Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) Stock Price

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Barclays from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 6.32% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MTG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of MGIC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MGIC Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

MGIC Investment Stock Up 0.8%

MGIC Investment stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 101,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,421,963. MGIC Investment has a 52-week low of $21.94 and a 52-week high of $29.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.74.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The insurance provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.02. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 60.84% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company had revenue of $298.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.19 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. MGIC Investment’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MGIC Investment will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGIC Investment news, CEO Timothy J. Mattke sold 139,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.51, for a total transaction of $3,690,271.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 822,588 shares in the company, valued at $21,806,807.88. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Salvatore A. Miosi sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.27, for a total transaction of $818,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 454,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,387,261.15. The trade was a 6.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MGIC Investment

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTG. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in MGIC Investment by 1,625.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH now owns 233,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,625,000 after buying an additional 220,000 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MGIC Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment in the third quarter valued at $4,648,000. North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MGIC Investment in the second quarter valued at $375,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MGIC Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,797,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.58% of the company’s stock.

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.