Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 136,924 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 97.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136,924 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at $346,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at $224,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $66.73 on Tuesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $68.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.40. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,591,612. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ESNT. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

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.