MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 571,893 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of MGIC Investment worth $14,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MGIC Investment by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 16,008,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,561,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,595 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 10,578,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $250,812,000 after buying an additional 235,916 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,766,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $113,006,000 after buying an additional 677,227 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,524,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,271,000 after buying an additional 277,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment in the 4th quarter worth about $85,908,000. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MGIC Investment from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MGIC Investment from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MGIC Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.88.

MGIC Investment Trading Down 2.4%

MTG opened at $25.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.06. MGIC Investment Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.94 and a 1-year high of $28.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.89.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $306.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.66 million. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 63.49% and a return on equity of 14.96%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Analysts expect that MGIC Investment Corporation will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. MGIC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 17.28%.

MGIC Investment announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at MGIC Investment

In other news, EVP Paula C. Maggio sold 20,000 shares of MGIC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total transaction of $529,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 157,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,169,393.55. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.05% of the company’s stock.

MGIC Investment 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.