Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 201,732 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,902,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 201,732 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Essent Group worth $756,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,596,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,027,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,396,000 after acquiring an additional 45,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 941,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,168,000 after purchasing an additional 28,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $60.28 on Monday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.56. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The company 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 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.00%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.33.

Essent Group 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.