Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) Stock Dropped to Strong Sell by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

RDN has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Radian Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Radian Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Radian Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Radian Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Radian Group from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.14.

Radian Group Price Performance

Shares of RDN opened at $33.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.86. Radian Group has a 52-week low of $30.53 and a 52-week high of $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Radian Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were given a dividend of $0.2550 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. Radian Group’s payout ratio is currently 26.22%.

Insider Activity at Radian Group

In related news, EVP Meghan Bartholomew sold 7,812 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Radian Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Radian Group in the second quarter valued at about $728,072,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Radian Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,948,335 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $196,773,000 after acquiring an additional 230,912 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Radian Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $163,104,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Radian Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,334,000. Finally, Bruni J V & Co. Co. bought a new stake in Radian Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,355,376. 95.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Radian Group Company Profile

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.