Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN) Short Interest Update

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,460,000 shares, a decline of 24.4% from the March 15th total of 12,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Radian Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of RDN stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,096,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,068. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Radian Group has a 1-year low of $29.77 and a 1-year high of $37.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.11 and a 200 day moving average of $33.05.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 46.85% and a return on equity of 13.96%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Radian Group will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Radian Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. 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. Radian Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on RDN. UBS Group boosted their target price on Radian Group from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Radian Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory Serio sold 4,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Radian Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RDN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Radian Group by 54.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,780 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Radian Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 121,369 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,983,000 after buying an additional 12,498 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Radian Group in the first quarter worth approximately $1,050,000. 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 acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Radian Group by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 57,759 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,910,000 after purchasing an additional 10,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.33% of the company's stock.

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.