Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,815 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,783 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MGIC Investment were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in MGIC Investment by 131.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in MGIC Investment by 102.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in MGIC Investment by 61.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in MGIC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MGIC Investment by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 95.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MTG shares. Compass Point restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MGIC Investment from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MGIC Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.50.

Insider Activity at MGIC Investment

In related news, CAO Julie K. Sperber sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total value of $112,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 75,070 shares in the company, valued at $1,842,968.50. This trade represents a 5.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MGIC Investment Trading Up 0.5%

MTG stock opened at $26.36 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.49. MGIC Investment Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.11 and a fifty-two week high of $26.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.91.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 63.18% and a return on equity of 14.86%. The firm had revenue of $306.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. MGIC Investment’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MGIC Investment Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. MGIC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.28%.

MGIC Investment announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $750.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About MGIC Investment

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.