EMG Holdings L.P. Acquires Shares of 60,000 Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• EMG Holdings L.P. acquired 60,000 Essent Group shares worth approximately $3.5 million, making ESNT its 13th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 93% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook, with four Buy and six Hold ratings and an average price target of $67.71. Essent recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.82 EPS and $336.1 million in revenue.
• Essent executives sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans, including 29,329 shares sold by CEO Mark Casale and 5,500 by CFO David Weinstock. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, representing a 2.1% yield.

EMG Holdings L.P. acquired a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 60,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,506,000. Essent Group accounts for 0.9% of EMG Holdings L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. EMG Holdings L.P. owned 0.07% of Essent Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,983,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 132.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 24,139 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,136,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,485,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Essent Group in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.71.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,591,612. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Trading Down 2.4%

ESNT stock opened at $66.50 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $68.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $61.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $336.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $297.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group's payout ratio is 19.94%.

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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