Jennison Associates LLC Has $9.66 Million Stock Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in Essent by 60.7% in Q4, selling 229,969 shares and finishing with 148,655 shares worth about $9.66 million (0.15% ownership).
• Essent missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.60 vs. the $1.74 consensus and revenue down about 0.8% year-over-year, while analysts maintain an overall "Hold" consensus with an average target near $67.86.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40, ~2.3% yield), and insiders have recently sold shares (CEO sold 13,064 and an SVP sold 7,628 under pre-arranged 10b5‑1 plans).

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its stake in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 60.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 229,969 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.15% of Essent Group worth $9,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $346,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $239,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company's stock.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $60.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.71. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.22 and a 1 year high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 54.72%.The firm's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total transaction of $849,813.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,218,480 shares in the company, valued at $144,312,124. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.01, for a total transaction of $480,640.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ESNT. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.86.

Essent Group 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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