Advisors Preferred LLC Purchases New Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 46,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,864,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Essent Group by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 882.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $132,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $60.28 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $51.61 and a 52-week high of $67.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.33.

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.