LSV Asset Management Has $31.53 Million Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

LSV Asset Management trimmed its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 496,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,083 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 0.50% of Essent Group worth $31,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter worth $536,000. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in Essent Group by 118.7% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 315,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,078,000 after acquiring an additional 171,455 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Essent Group by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 422,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,875,000 after purchasing an additional 60,335 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 106.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 26,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 13,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Essent Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Essent Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Essent raised its quarterly dividend alongside the report, which supports yield-seeking investors and signals confidence in cash flow. Dividend and Results Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue was essentially in line with consensus at ~$312.4M (est. ~$312.6M), limiting the positive surprise from sales even as comps were slightly negative. Sales In Line Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call and transcripts are posted (management commentary and slide deck available) — investors should review the call for commentary on margin drivers, loss trends and capital deployment plans. Yahoo Earnings Transcript Seeking Alpha Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed consensus: reported $1.60 vs. street $1.74, which is the primary reason for the negative price reaction as it undercut near-term earnings expectations. Earnings Miss Article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue declined ~0.8% YoY and the slight topline softness combined with the EPS miss is pressuring sentiment; analysts and investors will watch forward guidance and mortgage/insurance trends for signs of stabilization. Earnings Snapshot

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ESNT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Essent Group from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In related news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Trading Down 6.3%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $61.52 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $67.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.Essent Group’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.05%.

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.