Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $67.38 and last traded at $67.2330, with a volume of 38269 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays increased 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.71.

Essent Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $336.07 million during 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%.Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. Analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 64,779 shares of company stock valued at $4,198,358 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 790.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.