MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 11,660,000 shares, a growth of 17.8% from the February 13th total of 9,900,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGIC Investment

In other news, CAO Julie K. Sperber sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $112,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 75,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,842,968.50. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MGIC Investment

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in MGIC Investment by 6.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,621,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,836,000 after buying an additional 98,369 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in MGIC Investment by 559.3% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 60,094 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after buying an additional 50,979 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in MGIC Investment by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 91,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 10,864 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment in the third quarter valued at about $777,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in MGIC Investment by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 10,130 shares in the last quarter. 95.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MGIC Investment Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MTG traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,177,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,624,715. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. MGIC Investment has a 52 week low of $19.26 and a 52 week high of $26.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.28 and a 200 day moving average of $24.72. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 1.28.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 63.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MGIC Investment will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. MGIC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 17.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price target on MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered MGIC Investment from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MGIC Investment presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

MGIC Investment Company Profile

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.