Mary Lourdes Gibbons Sells 7,628 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Key Points

• Mary Lourdes Gibbons, Essent Group SVP, sold 7,628 shares on April 20 at an average $63.01 for about $480,640 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan, leaving her with 237,586 shares (a 3.11% reduction).
• Essent increased its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40), representing a ~2.2% yield and a 20.32% payout ratio.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.60, missing the $1.74 estimate; the stock trades near $63 with a market cap of ~$5.94B and a P/E of 9.17, and analysts' consensus target is roughly $67.86 (mixed Buy/Hold ratings).

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 7,628 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 237,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,970,293.86. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. 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.

Mary Lourdes Gibbons also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, April 17th, Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 872 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $54,936.00.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.8%

Essent Group stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 747,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,294. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.87. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $54.29 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $59.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $312.40 million during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Essent Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Essent Group's payout ratio is 20.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Essent Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 note on Thursday, April 9th. Five equities 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.86.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 49,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,887,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Essent Group in the first quarter valued at $1,619,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 11.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Essent Group by 64.9% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Essent Group by 9.0% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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.