Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC Raises Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC lifted its position in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 52.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,100 shares during the quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $14,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Essent Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Essent Group by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Essent Group by 882.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $132,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 160.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESNT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essent Group

In other news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares in the company, valued at $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESNT opened at $58.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.30. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $67.09.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $312.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.62 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Increases Dividend

The company 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%. This is a positive change from Essent Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

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.