LSV Asset Management Has $31.53 Million Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

LSV Asset Management trimmed its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 496,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,083 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $31,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $75,596,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 78.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after buying an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,223,000 after buying an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Essent Group by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,682,000 after buying an additional 275,149 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Essent Group by 184.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 343,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,837,000 after acquiring an additional 222,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 6.3%

NYSE ESNT opened at $61.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Essent Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Essent Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Essent raised its quarterly dividend alongside the report, which supports yield-seeking investors and signals confidence in cash flow. Dividend and Results Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue was essentially in line with consensus at ~$312.4M (est. ~$312.6M), limiting the positive surprise from sales even as comps were slightly negative. Sales In Line Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call and transcripts are posted (management commentary and slide deck available) — investors should review the call for commentary on margin drivers, loss trends and capital deployment plans. Yahoo Earnings Transcript Seeking Alpha Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed consensus: reported $1.60 vs. street $1.74, which is the primary reason for the negative price reaction as it undercut near-term earnings expectations. Earnings Miss Article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue declined ~0.8% YoY and the slight topline softness combined with the EPS miss is pressuring sentiment; analysts and investors will watch forward guidance and mortgage/insurance trends for signs of stabilization. Earnings Snapshot

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.29.

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.