Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 19,124 Shares of MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 581,158 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 19,124 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of MGIC Investment worth $13,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MTG. Creative Planning raised its holdings in MGIC Investment by 17.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MGIC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $253,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in MGIC Investment by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 425,042 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,719,000 after buying an additional 6,065 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in MGIC Investment by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 150,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,858,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in MGIC Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered MGIC Investment from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on MGIC Investment from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Compass Point reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.75.

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MGIC Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTG traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,550,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,726,129. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Co. has a one year low of $19.26 and a one year high of $26.56. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $24.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.82.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts predict that MGIC Investment Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. MGIC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGIC Investment

In other news, CAO Julie K. Sperber sold 4,600 shares of MGIC Investment stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $112,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 75,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,842,968.50. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.05% of the company's stock.

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.