Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Mark Casale Sells 798 Shares of Stock

September 9, 2026 by InsiderTrades.com

Key Points

CEO Mark Casale sold 798 Essent Group shares at an average price of $70.01, generating $55,867.98. The Rule 10b5-1 transaction reduced his holdings by 0.04%, leaving him with roughly 2.04 million shares.
Essent reported quarterly EPS of $2.08 on revenue of $362.69 million, while analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $7.60. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equating to a 2.0% yield.
ESNT shares opened at $68.41, near their 12-month high of $70.37. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $71.86, while institutional investors own approximately 93% of the stock.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Casale sold 798 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $55,867.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,038,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,742,898.93. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

On Wednesday, August 19th, Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total transaction of $1,514,002.49.
On Tuesday, August 18th, Mark Casale sold 20,246 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $1,420,864.28.
On Tuesday, July 7th, Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15.
On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total transaction of $81,024.60.
On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $244,632.63.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $68.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.34 and a twelve month high of $70.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.02 and a 200 day moving average of $62.47.

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

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Essent Group by 1.3% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $11,730,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 5,609.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,597,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $424,079,000 after buying an additional 6,481,829 shares during the period. AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter worth about $297,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 796.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,084,000 after buying an additional 28,527 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.86.

View Our Latest Research Report on ESNT

Essent Group Company Profile

(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.