Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT Shares Sold by Renaissance Group LLC

Renaissance Group LLC reduced its holdings in Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 43.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,441 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $132,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Essent Group by 21.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 shares were 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 approximately $15,939,032. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of Essent Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,448,325.12. The trade was a 12.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESNT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.29.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.2%

Essent Group stock opened at $65.36 on Friday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.10.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Essent Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.