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

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

MGIC Investment Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MTG stock traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $23.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,177,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,624,715. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.28 and a 200 day moving average of $24.72. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 1.25. MGIC Investment has a 12-month low of $19.26 and a 12-month high of $26.56.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 63.18% and a return on equity of 14.86%. As a group, analysts expect that MGIC Investment will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTG has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Compass Point restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of MGIC Investment from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Julie K. Sperber sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $112,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 75,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,842,968.50. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MGIC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 6.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,621,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,836,000 after purchasing an additional 98,369 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 559.3% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 60,094 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 50,979 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 91,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 10,864 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new position in MGIC Investment in the third quarter valued at $777,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 10,130 shares during the last quarter. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.