Radian Group Inc. RDN reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted operating income of $1.27 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.5%. The bottom line improved 28.3% year over year.
Operating revenues increased 55.2% year over year to $475 million, driven by higher premiums earned and net investment income. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 57.2%.
The better-than-expected quarterly results benefited from higher premiums earned, solid investment income, growth in new insurance written and higher mortgage insurance in force. However, elevated expenses and higher primary loan defaults remained headwinds.
Radian Group Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Radian Group Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Radian Group Inc. Quote
Q1 in Detail
Net premiums earned were $403 million, up 72.2% year over year. Net investment income rose 14.8% year over year to $70 million, supported by higher short-term investment balances and maturities, partially offset by securities.
MI's new insurance written increased 42% year over year to $13.5 billion.
Primary mortgage insurance in force rose 3% year over year to $282 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%.
Persistency — the percentage of mortgage insurance remaining in force after 12 months — was 81.3% as of March 31, 2025, down 110 basis points year over year.
Primary delinquent loans represented 2.51% of primary loans in default as of March 31, 2026, compared with 2.33% in the prior-year quarter.
Total expenses soared 204.5% year over year to $292.7 million. The expense ratio improved 120 basis points year over year to 20%, reflecting enhanced operating leverage.
RDN’s Financial Update
As of March 31, 2026, Radian reported cash of $55.4 million, surged 123.3% from the 2025-end level.
Total assets increased 31.2% to $10.7 billion from the 2025-end level.
Book value per share rose 10% year over year to $35.67. Shareholders’ equity increased 0.6% to $4.8 billion from the 2025-end level.
Adjusted net operating return on equity was 14.7%, up 130 basis points year over year.
As of March 31, 2026, Radian Guaranty’s available assets under PMIERs totaled $5.4 billion, resulting in excess available assets of $1.6 billion.
RDN’s Capital Deployment & Dividend Update
During the first quarter of 2026, the company repurchased 1.5 million shares of common stock for $50 million.
In the first quarter, Radian paid a quarterly dividend of 25.5 cents per share, totaling approximately $35 million.
Zacks Rank
RDN currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Insurers
Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL reported first-quarter 2026 operating income of $2.50 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.4%. The bottom line increased 15.4% year over year.
Operating revenues of $4.4 billion decreased 3.8% year over year, primarily due to lower net premiums earned. Revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.1%. Gross premiums written decreased 0.6% year over year to $6.4 billion.
American International Group, Inc. AIG reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $2.11, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.90. The bottom line rose 80.3% year over year.
Adjusted operating revenues advanced 5.4% year over year to $6.97 billion. The top line beat the consensus mark by 1.2%. Net premiums written totaled $5.6 billion, reflecting 24% year-over-year growth, driven by 21% growth in Global Commercial and 11% growth in Global Personal.
MGIC Investment Corporation MTG reported first-quarter 2026 operating net income per share of 76 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.1%. The bottom line also improved 1.3% year over year.
Total operating revenues declined 3% year over year to $297 million, attributable to lower net premiums earned and other revenues. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.4%. Net premiums earned declined 3.4% year over year to $235.4 million, surpassing our estimate of $234.3 million.
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