Mark Casale Sells 798 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $55,867.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,038,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,742,898.93. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 19th, Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total value of $1,420,864.28.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15.
• On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total value of $81,024.60.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Price Performance

Essent Group stock opened at $68.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.34 and a 52-week high of $70.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. On average, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Company Profile

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.