Royal Bank Of Canada Raises MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) Price Target to $32.00

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) had its target price upped by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.78% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MGIC Investment from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of MGIC Investment in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.60.

MGIC Investment Price Performance

MGIC Investment stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.97. The company had a trading volume of 901,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,911. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.94. MGIC Investment has a 1-year low of $24.69 and a 1-year high of $31.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $295.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.54 million. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 59.20%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MGIC Investment will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $750.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 12.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Salvatore A. Miosi sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 560,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,236,936.38. The trade was a 5.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Paula C. Maggio sold 20,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total value of $534,940.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 169,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,333,791. This represents a 10.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGIC Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTG. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,616,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $339,428,000 after buying an additional 2,771,533 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,371,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $163,368,000 after purchasing an additional 146,589 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,010,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,397,000 after acquiring an additional 48,064 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MGIC Investment by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,609,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,684,000 after purchasing an additional 76,306 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,561,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $129,407,000 after purchasing an additional 441,809 shares in the last quarter. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.