MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from seven brokerages, with two sell, four hold, and one strong buy recommendations.
• The company's quarterly earnings topped analysts' estimates with an EPS of $0.82, while revenue decreased 0.3% year-over-year.
• MGIC Investment declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, increasing from $0.13, yielding 2.2% annually.

Shares of MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.8333.

A number of equities analysts have commented on MTG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of MGIC Investment in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "cautious" rating in a report on Monday.

MGIC Investment Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MTG opened at $26.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. MGIC Investment has a 12-month low of $21.94 and a 12-month high of $29.01.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $304.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.25 million. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 62.58% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The firm's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MGIC Investment will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from MGIC Investment's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. MGIC Investment's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGIC Investment

In other news, COO Salvatore A. Miosi sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.15, for a total transaction of $844,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 189,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,331,638.15. The trade was a 13.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Mattke sold 139,203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total transaction of $3,694,447.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,100,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,220,380.76. This trade represents a 11.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 338,406 shares of company stock valued at $9,096,557. Corporate insiders own 1.05% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGIC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FCG Investment Co boosted its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 21.4% during the third quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 36,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 6,514 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment in the third quarter worth about $719,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 11.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,558 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 92.6% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 300,789 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,374,000 after purchasing an additional 144,650 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 11.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 26,975 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.58% of the company's stock.

About MGIC Investment

MGIC Investment Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance, other mortgage credit risk management solutions, and ancillary services to lenders and government sponsored entities in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The company offers primary mortgage insurance that provides mortgage default protection on individual loans, as well as covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest, and various expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure.

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