Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Stock Sold by Alps Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its Essent Group stake by 23.7% in the third quarter, selling 69,361 shares; it retained 222,954 shares valued at about $12.9 million.
• Essent’s third-quarter revenue of $374.2 million exceeded estimates, while EPS of $1.82 fell short of consensus and was up from $1.67 a year earlier.
• The company authorized a $500 million share repurchase plan and declared a $0.35 quarterly dividend. Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $70.75.

Alps Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 23.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 69,361 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Essent Group worth $12,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $798,836,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $107,114,521. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Essent Group by 16.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 914,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,442,000 after purchasing an additional 131,823 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter worth $43,068,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,041,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Essent Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Essent Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Essent authorized a new $500 million share repurchase plan, which could support per-share results and return capital to shareholders. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share. Essent outlines premiums and share repurchase plan Essent declares dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue was $374.2 million, above analysts’ roughly $344.2 million estimate. EPS also rose year over year, to $1.82 from $1.67. Essent posts better-than-expected sales
• Positive Sentiment: Essent outlined approximately $320 million in 2026 property-and-casualty written premiums, pointing to activity beyond its core mortgage insurance business. Essent outlines 2026 premiums
• Negative Sentiment: EPS of $1.82 missed consensus estimates of $1.85–$1.88. The modest shortfall may have overshadowed the revenue beat and year-over-year earnings growth. Essent lags Q3 earnings estimates

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ESNT shares. Barclays increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America downgraded Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Essent Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Roy Kasmar sold 4,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.71, for a total transaction of $332,350.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,714.31. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total value of $376,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,055,788.76. This represents a 15.50% 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 three months, insiders sold 69,663 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,555. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Stock Down 7.6%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $63.36 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $71.84. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.03). Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $374.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.17 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. Essent Group's payout ratio is currently 19.53%.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps protect mortgage lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on residential mortgage loans.

Its principal business is mortgage insurance for low-down-payment conventional residential mortgages, enabling qualified borrowers to obtain home financing with less than a 20% down payment.

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