Equitable (NYSE:EQH) & Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) Head to Head Comparison

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

Dividends

Equitable pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Radian Group pays an annual dividend of $1.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equitable pays out 87.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Radian Group pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equitable has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Radian Group has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Radian Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Equitable and Radian Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equitable	$12.44 billion	1.23	$1.31 billion	$1.24	41.25
Radian Group	$1.29 billion	3.66	$604.44 million	$3.97	8.78

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Equitable shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.3% of Radian Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Equitable shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Radian Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Equitable and Radian Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equitable	0	2	9	1	2.92
Radian Group	0	4	0	2	2.67

Equitable currently has a consensus price target of $64.55, suggesting a potential upside of 26.20%. Radian Group has a consensus price target of $37.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.18%. Given Equitable’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Equitable is more favorable than Radian Group.

Risk and Volatility

Equitable has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Radian Group has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equitable	3.51%	81.58%	0.65%
Radian Group	45.62%	13.25%	6.88%

Summary

Radian Group beats Equitable on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy. The Individual Retirement segment offers a suite of variable annuity products primarily to affluent and high net worth individuals. The Group Retirement segment provides tax-deferred investment and retirement services or products to plans sponsored by educational entities, municipalities, and not-for-profit entities, as well as small and medium-sized businesses. The Investment Management and Research segment offers diversified investment management, research, and related services to various clients through institutional. The Protection Solutions segment provides life insurance products, such as VUL insurance and IUL insurance, term life, and employee benefits business, such as dental, vision, life, as well as short- and long-term disability insurance products to small and medium-sized businesses. The Wealth Management segment offers discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory accounts, financial planning and advice, life insurance, and annuity products. The Legacy segment consists of the capital intensive fixed-rate GMxB business that includes ROP death benefits. The company was formerly known as AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Equitable Holdings, Inc. in January 2020. Equitable Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is based in New York, New York.

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.