148,625 Shares in MGIC Investment Corporation $MTG Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 148,625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,191,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MGIC Investment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $618,467,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MGIC Investment by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,616,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $339,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771,533 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MGIC Investment by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,371,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $163,368,000 after purchasing an additional 146,589 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in MGIC Investment by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,010,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,397,000 after buying an additional 48,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in MGIC Investment by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,609,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,684,000 after buying an additional 76,306 shares during the last quarter. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paula C. Maggio sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.30, for a total transaction of $606,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 149,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,486. The trade was a 11.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Salvatore A. Miosi sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $761,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 560,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,236,936.38. The trade was a 5.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MGIC Investment Price Performance

MTG stock opened at $30.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.68 and a 200-day moving average of $27.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. MGIC Investment Corporation has a 12 month low of $24.69 and a 12 month high of $31.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.65.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $295.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.54 million. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 59.20% and a return on equity of 13.90%. MGIC Investment’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MGIC Investment Corporation will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This is a positive change from MGIC Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. MGIC Investment’s payout ratio is 21.25%.

MGIC Investment Profile

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.