Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 65,867 Shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Radian Group by 169.5%, acquiring an additional 65,867 shares during the first quarter.
• A recent equity analyst report led to Radian Group shares being downgraded from "strong-buy" to "hold" by Compass Point, while Barclays raised their price target from $34.00 to $35.00.
• Radian Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.255 per share and initiated a $750 million share buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 169.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,717 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 65,867 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Radian Group worth $3,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Radian Group by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,351 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position 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 worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Radian Group by 9.8% during 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 period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Radian Group by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,324 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the period. 95.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Radian Group

In other Radian Group news, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 5,105 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director directly owned 20,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $673,469.28. This represents a 20.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Edward J. Hoffman sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $720,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 161,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,817,096. This trade represents a 11.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,378 shares of company stock valued at $2,944,414. Insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Radian Group in a research 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 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Compass Point lowered shares of Radian Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th.

Radian Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE RDN traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.97. The stock had a trading volume of 40,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,510,206. Radian Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.32 and a 12 month high of $36.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 3.44. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.31.

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

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

Radian Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio is 25.69%.

About Radian Group

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.