Perbak Capital Partners LLP Grows Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Perbak Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 398.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,166 shares during the quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $123,223,000 after purchasing an additional 318,318 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% during 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 2nd quarter worth $75,596,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Essent Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,116,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,983,000 after purchasing an additional 36,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Essent Group by 4.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $58.11 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.71 and its 200 day moving average is $62.31. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.35 dividend. 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. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.43.

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.