Roy James Kasmar Sells 4,837 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total transaction of $332,350.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,714.31. This trade represents a 18.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $68.24 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $798,836,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth about $155,516,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $107,114,521. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,068,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $41,041,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESNT. Barclays raised their price target on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.