Swiss National Bank Trims Stake in Radian Group Inc. $RDN

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in Radian Group by 2.5%, selling 7,300 shares and retaining ownership of 288,550 shares valued at approximately $9.54 million.
• Insider transactions revealed significant share sales by executives, with Director Howard Culang and EVP Eric Ray selling 8,773 and 30,000 shares, respectively, indicating a decrease in their positions of 52.15% and 68.25%.
• Radian Group reported earnings per share of $1.01 in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding analyst expectations, along with a share repurchase plan authorized for up to $750 million, signaling management's belief in undervalued stock.

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 288,550 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.21% of Radian Group worth $9,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RDN. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Radian Group by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,972 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Radian Group by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew 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 worth $274,000 after buying an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew 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 worth $374,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Radian Group

In other news, Director Lisa Mumford sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $83,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,329 shares in the company, valued at $746,905.05. This trade represents a 10.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Ray sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $464,768.10. The trade was a 68.25% 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. 2.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on RDN shares. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Radian Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Radian Group from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Compass Point downgraded Radian Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.00.

Radian Group Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE RDN traded up $0.4720 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.8520. The company's stock had a trading volume of 501,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,467,554. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $34.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.34. Radian Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $36.99.

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

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

Radian Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.