MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) Short Interest Up 17.8% in February

MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) was the recipient of a significant 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 shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGIC Investment

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of MGIC Investment by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,621,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,836,000 after buying an additional 98,369 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in MGIC Investment by 559.3% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 60,094 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 50,979 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 13.4% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of MGIC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $777,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 10,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MTG shares. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered MGIC Investment from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Compass Point restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.75.

MGIC Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTG opened at $23.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.71. MGIC Investment has a 52 week low of $19.26 and a 52 week high of $26.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 63.18%. Equities research analysts forecast that MGIC Investment will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. MGIC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.93%.

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.