Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Position Trimmed by Fairman Group LLC

Fairman Group LLC lowered its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the period. Essent Group accounts for 3.9% of Fairman Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Fairman Group LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $4,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position 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 period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total value of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,970,293.86. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,314 shares of company stock worth $2,010,987. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $64.28 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.22 and a one year high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.31.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. Research analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.94%.

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.