Vanguard Group Inc. Has $756.53 Million Stock Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,902,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 201,732 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.08% of Essent Group worth $756,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter worth about $1,398,000. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,223,000 after buying an additional 318,318 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 531.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 21,171 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 184.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 343,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,837,000 after buying an additional 222,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 422,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,875,000 after buying an additional 60,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1%

ESNT stock opened at $60.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.56.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $312.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.33.

About Essent Group

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.