MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) Price Target Raised to $29.00

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) had its target price upped by Barclays from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MTG. UBS Group reduced their target price on MGIC Investment from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered MGIC Investment from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MGIC Investment from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

MGIC Investment Price Performance

MTG stock opened at $27.47 on Monday. MGIC Investment has a 1 year low of $21.94 and a 1 year high of $29.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.47. The firm has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.79.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The insurance provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.02. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 60.84%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MGIC Investment will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. MGIC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGIC Investment news, CEO Timothy J. Mattke sold 139,203 shares of the 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 owned 822,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,806,807.88. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Paula C. Maggio sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.51, for a total value of $550,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,155,094.39. This represents a 14.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 339,336 shares of company stock valued at $9,032,971 in the last quarter. 1.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MGIC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 701,943 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,914,000 after buying an additional 264,968 shares during the last quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 220,000 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in MGIC Investment by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 472,083 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,393,000 after purchasing an additional 71,474 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in MGIC Investment by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 687,445 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,503,000 after purchasing an additional 353,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,648,000. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.