Millennium Management LLC Buys New Shares in Radian Group Inc. $RDN

Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 824,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,282,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Radian Group by 42.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Radian Group in the 1st quarter valued at $88,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Radian Group by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Radian Group by 13.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Radian Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Radian Group

In related news, EVP Edward J. Hoffman sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 161,586 shares in the company, valued at $5,817,096. This represents a 11.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Radian Group Trading Up 1.7%

RDN stock opened at $35.51 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Radian Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $36.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.75.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.08. Radian Group had a net margin of 45.62% and a return on equity of 13.25%. The business had revenue of $318.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Radian Group Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Radian Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Radian Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. Radian Group’s dividend payout ratio is 25.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on RDN shares. Compass Point lowered shares of Radian Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Radian Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Radian Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Radian Group from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Radian Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

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.