16,826 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Bought by Summit Global Investments

Key Points

• Summit Global Investments acquired 16,826 Essent Group shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.08 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93% of ESNT.
• Essent insiders sold 40,320 shares worth about $2.63 million during the latest quarter, including sales by CEO Mark Casale and SVP Vijay Bhasin under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with an average “Hold” rating and $71.86 price target, while Essent reported $2.08 quarterly EPS and declared a $0.35 quarterly dividend, yielding roughly 2% annually.

Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 16,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,082,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 790.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $33,810.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 198,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,891,430. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,320 shares of company stock valued at $2,625,422. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essent Group Trading Up 0.4%

ESNT opened at $69.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.81. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $55.34 and a 1-year high of $70.00. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Essent Group Company Profile

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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