Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) CEO Sells 29,329 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Essent Group CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares on July 7 at an average price of $65.35, for proceeds of about $1.92 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and Casale still holds more than 2.18 million shares.
• The stock was down 0.8% to $64.08 in Wednesday trading, near its 52-week high of $67.09. Essent Group also has solid balance-sheet metrics, including a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.
• The company recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.82 EPS and $336.07 million in revenue for the quarter. Essent also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35, yielding about 2.2%.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $1,916,650.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Casale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 6th, Mark Casale sold 1,245 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total value of $81,024.60.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Mark Casale sold 3,763 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $244,632.63.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mark Casale sold 13,064 shares of Essent Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $849,813.20.

Essent Group Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:ESNT traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $64.08. The stock had a trading volume of 922,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 923,992. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.27. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $336.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $297.56 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 53.64% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Essent Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Essent Group by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Essent Group by 790.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

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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