214,500 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Acquired by Winmill & CO. Inc.

Winmill & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 214,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,788,000. Essent Group comprises approximately 3.1% of Winmill & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 96,348 shares of company stock worth $6,552,539 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ESNT opened at $68.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $55.34 and a fifty-two week high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

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.