Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Shares Cross Below 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) shares passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $61.26 and traded as low as $59.43. Essent Group shares last traded at $61.7590, with a volume of 1,239,895 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the topic of several research reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.57.

Essent Group Trading Up 3.0%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.28. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued 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 presently 19.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essent Group news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at $144,312,124. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 Essent Group 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. This trade represents a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 25,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,661,682 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Essent Group by 111.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

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.