Van ECK Associates Corp Has $3.69 Million Position in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Free Report) by 33.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,333 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 29,262 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.08% of Radian Group worth $3,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Radian Group by 352.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Radian Group by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,481 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Radian Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Radian Group in the 3rd quarter worth $237,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Radian Group by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,200 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company's stock.

Radian Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RDN traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.55. The company had a trading volume of 664,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,339. The stock has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.06. Radian Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.20 and a 12 month high of $37.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $32.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.95.

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

Radian Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This is an increase from Radian Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Derek Brummer sold 14,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.65, for a total value of $509,528.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 171,830 shares in the company, valued at $5,953,909.50. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Radian Group from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Radian Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.80.

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.