Key Points
- Essent SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares at an average price of $67 on Dec. 18 for $291,584, reducing her stake by 1.8% to 237,896 shares (≈$15.94M).
- Company fundamentals and outlook: Essent missed quarterly EPS expectations ($1.67 vs. $1.75) with slightly lower revenue, trades near its one‑year high with a PE of ~9.6 and market cap ~$6.36B, pays a $0.31 quarterly dividend (1.9% yield), and carries a consensus "Hold" rating (avg target $66.67).
Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.
Essent Group Stock Performance
NYSE ESNT opened at $65.81 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.
Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.
Essent Group Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.05%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
ESNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essent Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "cautious" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.67.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Essent Group
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Essent Group by 1,765.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Essent Group
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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