JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 33.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 679,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 347,960 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.70% of Essent Group worth $43,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 27.8% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.3%

ESNT stock opened at $57.12 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $67.09. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.05 and its 200 day moving average is $62.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.91.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Essent Group’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.43.

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.