Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 450,000 MGIC Investment Corporation $MTG

Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new position in MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 450,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,690,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.22% of MGIC Investment at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MTG. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 245.3% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 364,650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,655,000 after purchasing an additional 259,039 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $24,456,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in MGIC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,248,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in MGIC Investment by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 207,412 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,089,000 after buying an additional 40,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MTG. Weiss Ratings upgraded MGIC Investment from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of MGIC Investment in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MGIC Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.60.

MGIC Investment Price Performance

NYSE MTG opened at $30.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.66. MGIC Investment Corporation has a 1 year low of $24.69 and a 1 year high of $31.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 59.20%.The business had revenue of $295.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MGIC Investment Corporation will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Paula C. Maggio sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 149,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,486. The trade was a 11.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $761,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 560,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,236,936.38. This trade represents 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. Insiders have sold 70,937 shares of company stock worth $1,902,340 in the last 90 days. 1.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About MGIC Investment

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.