Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Sells $33,810.00 in Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $33,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 198,449 shares in the company, valued at $13,891,430. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $69.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth $346,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.