Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 50,000 Shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Radian Group Inc. by 12.5%, now holding 350,000 shares valued at approximately $11.57 million.
• Radian Group announced a share buyback plan authorizing the repurchase of up to $750 million in shares, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.255 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.02% and a dividend payout ratio of 25.95%.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 350,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.25% of Radian Group worth $11,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,351 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Radian Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,854 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Radian Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 11,379 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Radian Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 199,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,340,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Radian Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Edward J. Hoffman sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $720,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 161,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,817,096. The trade was a 11.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 5,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.66, for a total transaction of $171,834.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $673,469.28. The trade was a 20.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 86,378 shares of company stock worth $2,944,414. 2.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Radian Group Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of RDN traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $33.94. 401,590 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,511,218. Radian Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.32 and a 52 week high of $37.86. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.44, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $318.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.99 million. Radian Group had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 46.29%. The company's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Radian Group Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

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

Radian Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RDN shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Radian Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Radian Group from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Radian Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.50.

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.