<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.</p><h2>Essent Group Price Performance</h2><p>ESNT traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $62.76. 338,538 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 710,516. The business's fifty day moving average is $61.40 and its 200 day moving average is $60.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. Essent Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $51.61 and a fifty-two week high of $65.90. </p><p>Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 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 business had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Essent Group's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis.  As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that  Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year. </p><h2>Essent Group Announces Dividend</h2><p>The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.05%. </p><h2>Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group</h2><p>Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of  Essent Group during the second quarter worth approximately $75,596,000.  Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in  Essent Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,084,000.  AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in  Essent Group by 78.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares in the last quarter.  Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in  Essent Group during the 1st quarter worth $34,060,000.  Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in  Essent Group by 670.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 663,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,288,000 after acquiring an additional 577,245 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. </p><h2>Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth</h2><p>A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Weiss Ratings  reaffirmed a &#34;buy (b+)&#34; rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. downgraded Essent Group from an &#34;overweight&#34; rating to a &#34;neutral&#34; rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group  set a $60.00 target price on Essent Group and gave the company a &#34;neutral&#34; rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a &#34;cautious&#34; rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Compass Point  reaffirmed a &#34;buy&#34; rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued  a Hold rating and one  has assigned  a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of &#34;Hold&#34; and an average target price of $65.67.</p><p><b>Get Our Latest Stock Report on Essent Group</b></p><h2>About Essent Group</h2> (Get Free Report)<p>Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.</p><h2>See Also</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Essent Group</li><li>Dividend Capture Strategy: What You Need to Know</li><li>Power On: Applied Digital’s First AI Data Center Goes Live</li><li>How to Invest in Biotech Stocks</li><li>Alphabet: The AI Leader Best Positioned to Dominate 2026</li><li>Insider Buying Explained: What Investors Need to Know</li><li>2 Reasons to Load Up on Fiserv, 1 to Stay Away</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/InsiderTradesChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPUVTTlQ?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/InsiderTradesChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPUVTTlQ"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Essent Group Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Essent Group, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Essent Group wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Essent Group currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

ESNT

<p>Essent Group Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares at $61.44 each, totaling $199,680. This sale reduced his position by 12.12%. The transaction was disclosed to the SEC. Essent Group's stock performance and financials were also discussed, including a recent earnings miss and dividend announcement. Institutional investors have adjusted their stakes, and analysts have mixed ratings on the stock.</p>

Insider Selling: Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Director Sells 3,250 Shares of Stock