Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Stock Position Cut by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 48.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 169,450 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Essent Group worth $10,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,336,000 after purchasing an additional 85,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essent Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,628,000 after purchasing an additional 129,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $155,516,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,900,000 after buying an additional 13,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,864,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,183,000 after buying an additional 567,103 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business’s 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $276,292.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,151 shares of company stock valued at $3,717,718. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $65.01 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.33 and its 200-day moving average is $61.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.34 and a 12-month high of $67.46.

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

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.

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.