Over the past year, many Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Essent Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chief Risk Officer & Senior VP, Vijay Bhasin, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$712k worth of shares at a price of US$55.05 each. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$55.63, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 6.0% of Vijay Bhasin's holding.

Essent Group insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insiders At Essent Group Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Essent Group. Specifically, insider David Weinstock ditched US$127k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.

Insider Ownership Of Essent Group

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Essent Group insiders own about US$186m worth of shares (which is 3.2% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Essent Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought Essent Group stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But it is good to see that Essent Group is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Essent Group.

Of course Essent Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.