Stock daily read

What happened with ACT today?

Why it moved
Explains possible causes using the day’s news and filings
Moving with the market?
Uses market moves and trading volume to assess what drove the change
What to watch next
The next thing that could change the call, and what to look for

No read yet

Uses news and trading volume to explain the day’s move and how it relates to the market.

Investment outlook

ACT in three months: buy, wait or sell?

Stop guessing. Get the call, a three-month target price, the best and worst cases, and a source for every claim.

In the report
  • Buy / Wait / Sell rating
  • 3-month target price
  • Bear · Base · Bull
  • vs. the market

Company

Company overview

Enact Holdings, Inc. provides private mortgage insurance in the United States. Mortgage lenders arrange its coverage for homebuyers who make small down payments. If a borrower defaults, Enact covers part of the unpaid loan balance, protecting lenders and mortgage investors. This coverage also helps lenders sell loans to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and private investors. Borrowers or lenders pay the premiums, usually through monthly mortgage payments or an upfront payment at closing.

Premiums provide most of Enact’s revenue. It also invests premium cash mainly in high-quality fixed-income assets, earning significant investment income and holding funds for future claims. Premium earnings depend on lenders placing new loans with Enact and existing coverage staying active; refinancing and policy cancellations reduce that income. Borrower defaults drive claims and affect how much of the revenue becomes profit.

Enact’s largest customer supplies a meaningful share of revenue and an even larger share of new insurance business. Its access to loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac depends on its insurance subsidiary maintaining their required assets and meeting their eligibility rules. State capital requirements can also prevent it from writing new policies if capital falls short.

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Source: SEC filing

Red flags

Know what’s buried in ACT’s filings before you buy

The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.

Sorted into
  • Happening now
  • Could go wrong
  • Built in

Moat

ACT says it has a moat. Does it hold up?

Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.

Each edge rated
  • Strong
  • Moderate
  • Limited
  • Unproven

Related companies

  • Competition
  • Shared drivers
  • Supplier
  • Customer
  • MGIC Investment Corp. competes with Enact for U.S. lenders’ mortgage insurance business, protecting them against losses on low-down-payment loans under the same eligibility rules for loans bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Watch MGIC’s new insurance written for competition over new loans, and its outstanding insured loans for the base supporting future premiums.

  • Essent Group LTD competes with Enact to insure U.S. lenders against mortgage default losses; both also take on mortgage-related risk from other insurers through reinsurance. Essent’s Mortgage Insurance and Reinsurance results are the relevant comparison for Enact, rather than its title insurance and settlement services.

  • NMI Holdings Inc. competes with Enact for the same low-down-payment loans, selling U.S. mortgage lenders insurance against borrower default losses. Watch the premium rates NMI sets for individual new loans through Rate GPS: pricing is one of the ways it competes for Enact’s customers.

  • Radian Group Inc. and Enact compete to collect premiums for protecting lenders and investors against defaults on U.S. residential first-lien mortgages, generally for borrowers with low down payments. Watch Radian’s tailored insurance quotes through RADAR Rates for pricing competition on those loans.

  • Genworth Financial controls and consolidates Enact, and its expected retention of at least 80% ownership to preserve tax benefits limits Enact’s ability to raise capital by selling shares to outsiders. Enact returned $407 million of capital to Genworth Holdings in 2025; Genworth expects Enact’s capital returns to help fund CareScout products and services, share repurchases and debt reduction—not as revenue.

  • Arch Capital’s U.S. mortgage insurance business competes directly with Enact to protect lenders against mortgage default losses, but Arch also sells substantial insurance and reinsurance outside mortgages. Watch its U.S. mortgage insurance pricing and underwriting terms rather than treating group-wide earnings as a read-through to Enact.

Agenda

in 3 daysThu, Oct 22

  1. 8:30 AMET pre-market

    Initial Jobless Claims (Oct/17)

    For Enact, weekly jobless claims count new applications for unemployment benefits, signaling whether borrowers may have more trouble paying insured mortgages and generating claims that the company must pay.

in 9 daysWed, Oct 28

  1. 2:00 PMET

    Fed Interest Rate Decision

    For Enact, the Fed’s rate decision signals how borrowing costs may shift, affecting investment income from its fixed-income portfolio and the mortgage activity that generates insurance premiums.

in 16 daysWed, Nov 4

  1. Time to be announced
    Major

    Enact Holdings, Inc. earningsThis company

    Enact’s report will show whether newly insured mortgages are supporting its premium base while claims remain manageable.

  2. Time to be announced

    MGIC Investment Corp. earningsMTG

    MGIC’s report will show how it is competing for low-down-payment mortgage insurance and whether its insured loans are supporting future premiums.

  3. Time to be announced

    Genworth Financial, Inc. earningsGNW

    Genworth’s report will show whether capital returned by Enact remains a funding source for its parent, not revenue earned by Enact.

in 18 daysFri, Nov 6

  1. 8:30 AMET pre-market

    Non Farm Payrolls (Oct)

    For Enact, the monthly payrolls report counts jobs added or lost, indicating whether insured borrowers’ employment and income may support mortgage payments or lead to more defaults and insurance claims.