Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 14,098 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 659,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,098 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.70% of Essent Group worth $38,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $346,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $65.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.83 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 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $67.46.

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

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s payout ratio is 19.94%.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $276,292.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,169,173.36. This trade represents a 1.79% 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 57,151 shares of company stock valued at $3,717,718 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.71.

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.