Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 37,224 Shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Radian Group Inc. by 44%, holding 47,392 shares valued at $1.57 million.
• Radian Group has a consensus rating of "Hold", with a target price set at $37.50 following recent analyst evaluations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.255 per share, with a yield of 3.01%, and authorized a stock buyback program worth $750 million.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 44.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 37,224 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Radian Group were worth $1,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Radian Group by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,824 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Radian Group by 177.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,320 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 17,477 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Radian Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,693,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Radian Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $478,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Radian Group by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 23,745 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 5,063 shares in the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on RDN. Barclays lifted their target price on Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Compass Point cut Radian Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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 note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Radian Group from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.50.

Radian Group Stock Performance

RDN traded up $0.31 on Friday, hitting $32.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,492,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,151,231. The company's fifty day moving average price is $34.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.30. Radian Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Radian Group Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Radian Group

In other news, EVP Eric Ray sold 30,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,768.10. The trade was a 68.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard Bernard Culang sold 8,773 shares of the business'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 value of $292,755.01. Following the sale, the director owned 8,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,628.50. This represents a 52.15% 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 valued at $2,944,414 in the last quarter. 2.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.