Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 136,924 Shares of Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings cut its Essent Group stake by 97.5%, selling 136,924 shares and retaining 3,580 shares valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors still own about 93% of ESNT.
• Essent Group reported quarterly EPS of $1.82, beating estimates of $1.68, while revenue reached $336.07 million and rose 5.8% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equivalent to a $1.40 annualized payout and a 2.1% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $67.71.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 97.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 136,924 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,516,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 78.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,983,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Essent Group by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,173,000 after acquiring an additional 372,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Essent Group by 152.3% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 455,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 275,149 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $66.73 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.40. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.34 and a twelve month high of $68.62.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In related news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,254,223.94. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,184,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612 over the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $67.71.

About Essent Group

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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