182,479 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Acquired by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 182,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,730,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESNT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Essent Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESNT. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 21,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.07, for a total value of $1,514,002.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,039,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,921,148.37. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $992,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,899,180. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 98,848 shares of company stock worth $6,726,789 in the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.1%

ESNT opened at $69.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $55.34 and a 52 week high of $70.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.42. The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 51.45%. On average, research analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.53%.

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.