430,449 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Acquired by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 430,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,983,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ESNT. Barclays upped their price objective on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a report on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,218,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,312,124. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total value of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Stock Performance

ESNT stock opened at $60.90 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.53 and its 200-day moving average is $61.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.81. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.22 and a twelve month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.94%.

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.