AXA (OTCMKTS:AXAHY) and Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) Critical Analysis

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Radian Group	45.90%	13.29%	6.93%
AXA	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Radian Group pays an annual dividend of $1.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. AXA pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Radian Group pays out 25.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Radian Group has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.3% of Radian Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of AXA shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Radian Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Radian Group has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AXA has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Radian Group	$1.29 billion	3.47	$604.44 million	$4.01	8.24
AXA	$78.03 billion	1.28	$8.53 billion	N/A	N/A

AXA has higher revenue and earnings than Radian Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Radian Group and AXA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Radian Group	1	4	2	0	2.14
AXA	0	0	2	1	3.33

Radian Group currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.05%. Given Radian Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Radian Group is more favorable than AXA.

Summary

Radian Group beats AXA on 9 of the 15 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 AXA

AXA SA, through its subsidiaries, provides insurance, asset management, and banking services worldwide. The company operates through six segments: France; Europe; AXA XL; Asia, Africa & EME-LATAM; AXA Investment Managers; and Transversal & Other segments It offers life and savings insurance products, such as savings and retirement, other health, and personal protection products. The company also provides property and casualty insurance products, including car, home, and personal or professional liability to individual and business clients; international insurance for large corporate clients in Europe; and marine and aviation insurance services, as well as property and casualty reinsurance products. In addition, it offers asset management services in the areas of various asset classes, including equities, bonds, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate for the group’s insurance companies and their clients, and retail and institutional clients. Further, the company provides motor, household, property and general liability, health, term life, whole life, universal life, endowment, deferred and immediate annuities, and other investment-based products for personal/individual and commercial/ group customers. AXA SA was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Paris, France.