Cwm LLC Buys 24,139 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Cwm LLC boosted its stake in Essent by 132.2% in Q4, adding 24,139 shares to hold 42,396 shares valued at $2.756 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 93% of the company.
• SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares on April 20 at an average price of $63.01 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, trimming her position by 3.11% to 237,586 shares; corporate insiders own 3.6% of the stock.
• Essent raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40, ~2.2% yield), even as it reported a quarterly EPS miss ($1.60 vs. $1.74), and analysts' consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target of $67.86.

Cwm LLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 132.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,139 shares during the period. Cwm LLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $2,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 21.3% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 437,890 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,832,000 after acquiring an additional 76,855 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,938,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $123,223,000 after acquiring an additional 318,318 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 531.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,599,000 after buying an additional 21,171 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essent Group by 16.6% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 422,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,875,000 after buying an additional 60,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE ESNT opened at $64.59 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.11 and a 12-month high of $67.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays cut 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 report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.86.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.