First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 1,836,020 Shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,766,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,836,020 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 7.23% of Radian Group worth $341,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Radian Group by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 972 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Radian Group by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,351 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Radian Group by 124.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Radian Group by 735.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,407 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Radian Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Radian Group from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Radian Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.20.

Radian Group Stock Performance

Shares of RDN stock traded up $0.23 on Thursday, hitting $31.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 515,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,775. Radian Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.77 and a fifty-two week high of $37.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.11, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's 50 day moving average is $32.12 and its 200-day moving average is $33.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.87.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.17. Radian Group had a net margin of 46.85% and a return on equity of 13.96%. Equities research analysts expect that Radian Group Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Radian Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from Radian Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory Serio sold 4,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.65, for a total transaction of $133,865.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,231.60. This represents a 92.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Radian Group 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.