Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by Walleye Capital LLC

Key Points

• Walleye Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Essent Group by 28.5%, now owning about 0.58% of the company, valued at approximately $34.9 million.
• Essent Group reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.93 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a 2.0% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, representing a yield of 1.9%, with payment scheduled for September 10th, 2023.

Walleye Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 28.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 604,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 241,559 shares during the quarter. Walleye Capital LLC owned about 0.58% of Essent Group worth $34,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,456,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth $234,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Essent Group by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 8,454 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 553.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 113,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,214,000 after buying an additional 96,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 375.8% in the fourth quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 61,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,335,000 after buying an additional 48,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $60.00 price objective on Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Compass Point reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.67.

Essent Group Trading Up 3.0%

ESNT opened at $63.9050 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $65.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.60.

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

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Essent Group's payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Spiegel sold 6,451 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $404,735.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,647,050.48. The trade was a 19.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 3,760 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $233,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 247,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,315,426. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,950 shares of company stock valued at $919,651 in the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Essent Group

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.

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