Vest Financial LLC Reduces Stock Position in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

Vest Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN) by 91.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,942 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 995,112 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.07% of Radian Group worth $3,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Radian Group by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Radian Group by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Radian Group by 124.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Radian Group by 735.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. 95.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on RDN shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Radian Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Compass Point lowered shares of Radian Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up from $37.00) on shares of Radian Group in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.83.

Radian Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RDN opened at $33.54 on Friday. Radian Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $37.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.87.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $318.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.99 million. Radian Group had a net margin of 46.85% and a return on equity of 13.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Radian Group Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Radian Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Radian Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.95%.

Radian Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Radian Group

In related news, EVP Eric Ray sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.30, for a total transaction of $999,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,768.10. This trade represents a 68.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward J. Hoffman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.72, for a total transaction of $337,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 201,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,797,479.92. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Radian Group Profile

Radian Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mortgage and real estate services business in the United States. It operates through two segments, Mortgage Insurance and Homegenius segments. The Mortgage Insurance segment aggregates, manages, and distributes U.S. mortgage credit risk for mortgage lending institutions and mortgage credit investors, through private mortgage insurance on residential first-lien mortgage loans; and other credit risk management solutions, including contract underwriting.