Head to Head Survey: Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) and Aegon (NYSE:AEG)

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) and Aegon (NYSE:AEG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.3% of Radian Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.3% of Aegon shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Radian Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Radian Group pays an annual dividend of $1.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Aegon pays an annual dividend of $0.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Radian Group pays out 26.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aegon pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Radian Group has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Radian Group and Aegon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Radian Group	$1.29 billion	3.74	$604.44 million	$3.93	9.14
Aegon	$10.65 billion	1.45	$744.48 million	$0.96	7.32

Aegon has higher revenue and earnings than Radian Group. Aegon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Radian Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Radian Group and Aegon, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Radian Group	0	4	2	0	2.33
Aegon	0	0	3	1	3.25

Radian Group currently has a consensus price target of $36.83, suggesting a potential upside of 2.54%. Given Radian Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Radian Group is more favorable than Aegon.

Profitability

This table compares Radian Group and Aegon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Radian Group	46.29%	13.54%	7.33%
Aegon	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Radian Group has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aegon has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Radian Group beats Aegon on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Homegenius segment offers title services, including a suite of insurance and non-insurance titles; tax and title data, centralized recording, document retrieval, and default curative title services; deed and property reports; closing and settlement services; mortgage underwriting and processing; escrow; appraisal management; and real estate brokerage. This segment also provides real estate valuation products and services; asset management services for managing real estate owned properties, which includes a web-based workflow solution; and a suite of real estate technology products and services to facilitate real estate transactions, such as proprietary platforms as a service solution. It serves mortgage originators, such as mortgage bankers, commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions, and community banks; and consumers, mortgage lenders, mortgage and real estate investors, government-sponsored enterprises, real estate brokers and agents, and corporations for their employees. The company was formerly known as CMAC Investment Corp. and changed its name to Radian Group Inc. in June 1999. Radian Group Inc. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

About Aegon

Aegon Ltd. provides insurance, pensions, retirement, and asset management services in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers life, accident, property and casualty, and health insurance; annuities, retirement plans, mutual funds, and stable value solutions; residential mortgage and digital baking services; and retail and institutional investment management solutions and retirement savings vehicles and strategies. It offers its products under the Aegon and Transamerica brands. Aegon Ltd. was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.