Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Acquired by Perbak Capital Partners LLP

Perbak Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 398.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,166 shares during the period. Perbak Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESNT. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essent Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Essent Group by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $291,584.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.43.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Essent Group stock opened at $58.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.31. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $67.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.00%.

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.