Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CFO Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Essent Group's CFO, David Weinstock, sold 2,500 shares at an average price of $63.33, reducing his ownership by 9.14%, leaving him with approximately $1.57 million in shares.
• The company's stock recently increased by 1.6% during trading hours, reaching $63.50, with a market cap of $6.26 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27.
• Essent Group reported earnings of $1.93 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and also issued a quarterly dividend of $0.31.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) CFO David B. Weinstock sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.33, for a total transaction of $158,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,574,700.45. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of ESNT stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,326,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,405. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.86. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $65.90.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $319.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.46 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 56.36% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essent Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Essent Group by 285.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 21.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 28,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 2.7% in the second quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 154.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 16,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 10,223 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Essent Group by 119.0% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 10,128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Essent Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. DOWLING & PARTN lowered shares of Essent Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.67.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.