Capital World Investors Acquires 11,548 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Capital World Investors raised its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,008,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,548 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned about 0.05% of Essent Group worth $318,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 27.8% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 160.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 882.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $57.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.38. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The company has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase 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 2.4%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. 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 report on Monday, January 12th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.33.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

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.