Ballast Asset Management LP Reduces Position in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG)

Ballast Asset Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG - Free Report) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,745 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 48,861 shares during the quarter. MGIC Investment makes up about 2.7% of Ballast Asset Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Ballast Asset Management LP owned about 0.09% of MGIC Investment worth $5,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in MGIC Investment by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 35,320 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in MGIC Investment by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in MGIC Investment by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,249 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MTG. Compass Point restated a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered MGIC Investment from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.75.

Insider Transactions at MGIC Investment

In related news, CAO Julie K. Sperber sold 4,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $112,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 75,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,842,968.50. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MGIC Investment Price Performance

MGIC Investment stock traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.09. 3,169,312 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,531. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.65. MGIC Investment Co. has a 52-week low of $19.26 and a 52-week high of $26.56. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 0.48.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts forecast that MGIC Investment Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MGIC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. MGIC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.93%.

MGIC Investment Profile

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.