Vise Technologies Inc. Takes $709,000 Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $346,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth approximately $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth $224,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,899,180. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,348 shares of company stock worth $6,552,539. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESNT. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.86.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of ESNT opened at $68.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.02. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.