Essent (ESNT) CEO Mark Casale Receives $10.5M Stock Award

What Happened
Mark Casale, Essent Group Ltd. chairman, CEO and president, received equity awards on Feb 11, 2026 totaling 160,282 shares (137,384 shares and 22,898 derivative units) at a reported per-share value of $65.51. The awards are valued at about $10.5 million in total. On the same date he surrendered 7,239 shares and 455 derivative units to the issuer (reported at $0.00), which appear to be share dispositions to the company (commonly used for tax withholding). Net of those dispositions, the awards increase his position by 152,588 shares.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-02-11; reported on Form 4 filed 2026-02-13 (timely filing).
• Grants: 137,384 restricted shares @ $65.51 = $9,000,026; 22,898 restricted/derivative units @ $65.51 = $1,500,048.
• Dispositions to issuer: 7,239 shares and 455 derivative units at $0.00 (likely tax withholding).
• Net new shares retained from these transactions: 152,588 (160,282 granted minus 7,694 surrendered).
• Shares owned after the transactions: not specified in the filing.
• Footnotes: awards include performance-based restricted shares tied to compounded annual book value growth and relative TSR over a three-year performance period (commencing Jan 1, 2026, vesting Mar 1, 2029), time-based vesting schedules, RSUs that convert one-for-one to common shares, and accrued dividend-equivalent rights that vest with the underlying awards.

Context
These filings reflect equity compensation grants (awards), not open-market purchases or sales. Performance-based and time-based restricted shares/units typically vest over multi-year schedules and may include dividend equivalents; surrendered shares to the issuer at $0.00 are commonly used to satisfy tax withholding and do not necessarily indicate a market sell signal.