Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 998,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,264 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $63,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 19.6% in the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,223,000 after acquiring an additional 318,318 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $75,596,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 4.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 45,606 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 25.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 978,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,221,000 after purchasing an additional 198,370 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 the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.33.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $59.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.48. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

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.