Vest Financial LLC Decreases Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC cut its stake in Essent by 46.7%, leaving 23,559 shares worth $1.53M; insiders have also sold about 25,814 shares (~$1.66M) in the past 90 days while institutional investors own roughly 93% of the stock.
• Essent missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.60 vs. a $1.74 consensus, with revenue essentially in line at $312.4M and a strong net margin of 54.7%.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40, ~2.3% yield); analysts’ consensus is a "Hold" with an average price target of $67.86 and the stock trades at a P/E of 8.78 (market cap $5.69B).

Vest Financial LLC cut its position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,605 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 192.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 893 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESNT opened at $60.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.07 and a 200 day moving average of $61.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.22 and a 12-month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $14,970,293.86. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 Essent Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents 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. Insiders have sold 25,814 shares of company stock worth $1,661,682 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ESNT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.