27,700 Shares in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESNT. 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 bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total value of $349,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $276,292.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 233,336 shares in the company, valued at $15,169,173.36. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 31,314 shares of company stock valued at $2,010,987 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESNT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Essent Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.57.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $64.41 on Thursday. Essent Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $55.22 and a twelve month high of $67.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.56 and a 200 day moving average of $61.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 53.64%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

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.