Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $31.16 and last traded at $31.4280, with a volume of 1273935 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RDN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Radian Group from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Radian Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. BTIG Research started coverage on Radian Group in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on Radian Group from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Radian Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Radian Group Stock Up 2.0%

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.25 and its 200-day moving average is $35.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.55 million. Radian Group had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 32.60%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 92.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Radian Group Inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Radian Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $0.2550 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. Radian Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Radian Group news, EVP Meghan Bartholomew sold 7,812 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total value of $280,763.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,203 shares in the company, valued at $1,408,955.82. This represents a 16.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Radian Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Radian Group during the second quarter valued at about $728,072,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Radian Group by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,948,335 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $196,773,000 after acquiring an additional 230,912 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Radian Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $163,104,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Radian Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $89,334,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Radian Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,364,000. Institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

About Radian Group

Radian Group Inc (NYSE: RDN) is a financial services company focused on supporting homeownership and the U.S. residential real estate market. Its principal business is mortgage insurance, which helps protect lenders and investors against losses when borrowers default on certain residential mortgage loans. Through its mortgage insurance operations, Radian serves mortgage lenders, banks, credit unions and other housing-finance participants.

The company also provides services and technology intended to support the mortgage and homeownership lifecycle.