Royal Bank Of Canada Upgrades Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) to “Moderate Buy”

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) was upgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on RDN. Wall Street Zen raised Radian Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Radian Group from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Radian Group from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America upgraded Radian Group from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Radian Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.67.

Radian Group Stock Performance

NYSE RDN opened at $36.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.76. Radian Group has a 1-year low of $31.50 and a 1-year high of $38.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.70.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $466.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.83 million. Radian Group had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 40.50%.The company’s revenue was up 46.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Radian Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Radian Group

In other Radian Group news, EVP Edward J. Hoffman sold 15,000 shares of Radian Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $570,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 93,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,560,904. The trade was a 13.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,000 shares of company stock worth $2,190,000. 2.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Radian Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RDN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Radian Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,364,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Radian Group by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,873,049 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,852 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in Radian Group by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,012,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $108,411,000 after purchasing an additional 916,003 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Radian Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,272,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $589,393,000 after purchasing an additional 427,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,007,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,480,000 after acquiring an additional 376,533 shares during the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Radian Group

Radian Group Inc (NYSE:RDN) is a leading provider of private mortgage insurance and related risk management solutions in the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, Radian Guaranty Inc, the company underwrites borrower-paid and lender-paid mortgage insurance that protects lenders and investors from potential losses arising from borrower defaults. Radian’s core business focuses on supporting residential mortgage originations and servicing by offering capital-efficient credit protection and credit risk transfer strategies.

Beyond mortgage insurance, Radian offers an array of real estate transaction services under its Radian Title division.