Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 69,403 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 276.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,403 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Essent Group were worth $6,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 12.5% in the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $62.05 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.67.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.29.

About Essent Group

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.