Alps Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 118.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 315,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 171,455 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Essent Group worth $20,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essent Group by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 422,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,875,000 after purchasing an additional 60,335 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 106.8% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 26,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 13,847 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $132,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.29.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE ESNT opened at $65.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.13. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $67.09. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.