Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Raises Holdings in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 116.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 172,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,824 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $10,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essent Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Essent Group by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 111.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Stock Performance

Shares of ESNT opened at $67.41 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $55.34 and a 12-month high of $67.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.27.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.14. The company 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%. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Essent Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Casale sold 29,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total transaction of $1,916,650.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,184,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,733,745.05. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David B. Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $349,305.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,223.94. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,837 shares of company stock worth $2,591,612 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of 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 raised shares of Essent Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Essent Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

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.