Royal Bank Of Canada Upgrades MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada upgraded MGIC Investment to Hold, and the broader analyst consensus remains cautious with one Buy and four Hold ratings, plus an average price target of $28.25.
• MGIC Investment recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.76 per share, beating estimates, though revenue of $297.1 million came in slightly below expectations and was down 3% from a year earlier.
• The company authorized a $750 million share repurchase program, covering up to 12.4% of its shares, which suggests management believes the stock may be undervalued.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada to a "hold" rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MGIC Investment from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings cut MGIC Investment from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MGIC Investment from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.25.

MGIC Investment Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MTG stock opened at $26.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.71. MGIC Investment has a 1-year low of $24.77 and a 1-year high of $29.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.78 and a 200 day moving average of $27.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 59.63%.The business had revenue of $297.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $303.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MGIC Investment will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

MGIC Investment declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $750.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 12.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at MGIC Investment

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Mattke sold 139,202 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total value of $3,687,460.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,118,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,615,952.45. This represents a 11.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Salvatore A. Miosi sold 10,931 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.25, for a total value of $286,938.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 590,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,512,463.75. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in MGIC Investment by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,616,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $339,428,000 after buying an additional 2,771,533 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MGIC Investment by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,371,470 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $163,368,000 after buying an additional 146,589 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in MGIC Investment by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,010,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $146,397,000 after buying an additional 48,064 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in MGIC Investment by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,609,318 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $134,684,000 after buying an additional 76,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in MGIC Investment by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,561,398 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $129,407,000 after buying an additional 441,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.58% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about MGIC Investment

Here are the key news stories impacting MGIC Investment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for MGIC Investment to $3.13 from $3.09, and also nudged Q1 2027 estimates higher to $0.81 from $0.80, suggesting slightly better near-term earnings expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also increased its Q3 2026 estimate to $0.79 from $0.78 and Q4 2027 estimate to $0.88 from $0.87, reinforcing the view that MGIC Investment’s earnings profile remains resilient.
• Neutral Sentiment: Even after the revisions, Zacks Research’s forecasts remain close to consensus, with full-year current earnings still expected at $3.06 per share, so the changes are incremental rather than a major outlook shift.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut its Q2 2027 EPS estimate to $0.82 from $0.86, and trimmed FY2027 earnings to $3.35 from $3.37, which may have added some pressure on the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The analyst also lowered its Q1 2028 estimate to $0.87 from $0.88, a small reduction that adds to the mixed tone of the overall revisions.

About MGIC Investment

MGIC Investment Corporation NYSE: MTG is a leading provider of private mortgage insurance in the United States. Established in 1957 as the nation's first private mortgage insurer, MGIC helps lenders manage credit risk and facilitates homeownership by protecting mortgage loans against default. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company operates through its principal subsidiary, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, and maintains relationships with a broad network of originators and servicers nationwide.

The company's primary business activity involves issuing mortgage insurance policies that enable borrowers to purchase homes with down payments below traditional lending thresholds.

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