MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) Stock Rated “Hold” in New Coverage at BTIG Research

BTIG Research started coverage on shares of MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of MGIC Investment in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised MGIC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of MGIC Investment from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MGIC Investment from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.60.

MGIC Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTG opened at $28.73 on Tuesday. MGIC Investment has a fifty-two week low of $24.69 and a fifty-two week high of $31.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.04. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $295.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.54 million. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 59.20%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Analysts expect that MGIC Investment will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from MGIC Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. MGIC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Paula C. Maggio sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.30, for a total transaction of $606,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 149,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,533,486. This trade represents a 11.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Salvatore A. Miosi sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total value of $921,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 470,951 shares in the company, valued at $14,472,324.23. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGIC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 4,381 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in MGIC Investment by 317.3% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 189,475 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,343,000 after purchasing an additional 144,073 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 126.3% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 319,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,012,000 after purchasing an additional 178,381 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MGIC Investment by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,092 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in MGIC Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. Institutional investors own 95.58% of the company’s stock.

About MGIC Investment

MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE: MTG) is a holding company whose principal subsidiary is Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), a provider of private mortgage insurance in the United States. MGIC’s insurance helps lenders manage the risk associated with residential mortgages made to borrowers who have limited down payments, allowing qualified homebuyers to obtain financing with less than 20% down.

MGIC primarily offers primary mortgage insurance to mortgage lenders, banks, credit unions and other residential lending institutions.