33,622 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 33,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,161,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at about $798,836,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $155,516,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth about $107,114,521,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,068,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,848 shares of company stock valued at $6,726,789. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. 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 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:ESNT opened at $69.09 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.34 and a twelve month high of $70.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.10.

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

Essent Group Announces Dividend

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

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.