Ieq Capital LLC Invests $2.16 Million in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 33,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,161,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESNT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $798,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,987,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,336,000 after purchasing an additional 85,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essent Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,076,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,628,000 after purchasing an additional 129,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Essent Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,952,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,900,000 after purchasing an additional 13,318 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Essent Group news, SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $174,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,848 shares of company stock worth $6,726,789. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on ESNT shares. Wall Street Zen raised Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $69.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. Essent Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $55.34 and a 1 year high of $70.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.10.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm 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 anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

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