Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells 21,607 Shares

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,039,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,921,148.37. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total value of $1,420,864.28.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15.
• On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total value of $81,024.60.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE ESNT traded down $0.45 on Thursday, reaching $68.59. 361,407 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 733,401. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. Analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.53%.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Company 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.