Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Sells $276,292.50 in Stock

Key Points

• Essent SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares on April 28 at an average price of $65.01 for $276,292.50 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, leaving her with 233,336 shares (a 1.79% position decrease).
• These sales follow additional April disposals—7,628 shares on April 20 and 872 shares on April 17 at about $63 each—indicating multiple planned insider sales during the month.
• For context, ESNT traded at $60.53 (50-day average ~$60.06), has a market cap of $5.69B and a P/E of 8.78, recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40, ~2.3% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of “Hold” with a $67.86 target.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $276,292.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mary Lourdes Gibbons also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 20th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total value of $480,640.28.
• On Friday, April 17th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 872 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $54,936.00.

Essent Group Stock Performance

NYSE ESNT traded down $3.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,164,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,666. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.22 and a twelve month high of $67.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.70.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $346,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Essent Group by 160.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $224,000. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ESNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.86.

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.

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