Legal & General Group Plc Sells 31,065 Shares of MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 537,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 31,065 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.21% of MGIC Investment worth $12,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MTG. Barclays PLC raised its stake in MGIC Investment by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 457,706 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,716,000 after buying an additional 196,252 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in MGIC Investment in the third quarter valued at about $619,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in MGIC Investment by 6.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,621,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,836,000 after purchasing an additional 98,369 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 85,797 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 424,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,114,000 after purchasing an additional 18,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MTG. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.50.

MGIC Investment Stock Performance

NYSE MTG opened at $23.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 1.25. MGIC Investment Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $26.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.93.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 63.18% and a return on equity of 14.86%. On average, research analysts predict that MGIC Investment Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. MGIC Investment’s payout ratio is 17.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.