Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Radian Group Inc. by 3.7%, now holding approximately 367,807 shares valued at $12.16 million.
• Radian Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.255 per share, providing an annualized yield of 3.0%, and will execute a share buyback program worth $750 million.
• Analyst ratings for Radian Group have varied, with UBS setting a neutral rating and a price target increase to $38.00, while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Compass Point downgraded the stock to hold ratings.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,328 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.27% of Radian Group worth $12,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Radian Group by 42.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,972 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Radian Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on RDN. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $38.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Radian Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Radian Group from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Radian Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Howard Bernard Culang sold 8,773 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total transaction of $292,755.01. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,628.50. This trade represents a 52.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric Ray sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.30, for a total transaction of $999,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,768.10. This trade represents a 68.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,378 shares of company stock worth $2,944,414 over the last three months. 2.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Radian Group Stock Performance

Radian Group stock opened at $34.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Radian Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year high of $36.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average is $34.53 and its 200 day moving average is $33.35.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.08. Radian Group had a net margin of 45.62% and a return on equity of 13.25%. The company had revenue of $318.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Radian Group Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Radian Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio is 25.69%.

Radian Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Radian Group Company 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.

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