Northern Trust Corp Lowers Stock Position in Radian Group Inc. $RDN

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in Radian Group Inc. by 4.4%, now holding approximately 1.64% of the company, valued at about $72.6 million.
• Radian Group's Board of Directors has approved a $750 million share repurchase program, indicating a belief that its shares are undervalued.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.255 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.9%.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,196,738 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 101,541 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.64% of Radian Group worth $72,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RDN. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Radian Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 30,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Radian Group by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 111,498 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 10,230 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Radian Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,144,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Radian Group by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 68,829 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 18,829 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Radian Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Institutional investors own 95.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Radian Group news, EVP Eric Ray sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.30, for a total value of $999,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,957 shares in the company, valued at $464,768.10. This represents a 68.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 5,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.66, for a total value of $171,834.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,008 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 86,378 shares of company stock valued at $2,944,414 over the last quarter. 2.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RDN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Compass Point lowered shares of Radian Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Radian Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RDN traded down $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.65. 633,037 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 845,824. Radian Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $36.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Radian Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Radian Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Radian Group's payout ratio is presently 25.69%.

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.