GSA Capital Partners LLP Takes $1.14 Million Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners opened a new position in Essent Group in the fourth quarter, buying 17,470 shares worth about $1.14 million.
• Institutional interest remains high, with 93% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutions. Several firms, including Vanguard and Cooke & Bieler, also increased their holdings.
• Essent Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.82 versus $1.68 expected and revenue of $336.07 million. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share.

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,470 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,136,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $779,336,000 after buying an additional 85,295 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 21.3% in 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 buying an additional 76,855 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 19.6% in 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 buying an additional 318,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 132.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 24,139 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,169,173.36. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of ESNT opened at $61.86 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.22 and a one year high of $67.09. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.81.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $297.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Essent Group's payout ratio is presently 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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