The following are today's upgrades for Validea's P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets.
MGIC INVESTMENT CORP (MTG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch changed from 72% to 74% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: MGIC Investment Corporation, through its principal subsidiary, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, serves lenders throughout the United States. The Company provides private mortgage insurance, other mortgage credit risk management solutions and ancillary services. Its mortgage insurance includes primary insurance, and CRT and pool insurance. Primary insurance provides mortgage default protection on individual loans and covers a percentage of the unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest and certain expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure on the mortgage or sale of the underlying property. In connection with the GSEs' credit risk transfer programs, it provides insurance and reinsurance covering portions of the credit risk related to certain reference pools of mortgages acquired by the GSEs. Its non-insurance subsidiary provides contract underwriting services for lenders, pursuant to which loans are underwritten to conform to prescribed guidelines.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| YIELD ADJUSTED P/E TO GROWTH (PEG) RATIO: | PASS |
| EARNINGS PER SHARE: | PASS |
| TOTAL DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | NEUTRAL |
| EQUITY/ASSETS RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | NEUTRAL |
| NET CASH POSITION: | NEUTRAL |
Detailed Analysis of MGIC INVESTMENT CORP
About Peter Lynch: Perhaps the greatest mutual fund manager of all-time, Lynch guided Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund to a 29.2 percent average annual return from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, almost doubling the S&P 500's 15.8 percent yearly return over that time. Lynch's common sense approach and quick wit made him one of the most quoted investors on Wall Street. ("Go for a business that any idiot can run -- because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it," is one of his many pearls of wisdom.) Lynch's bestseller One Up on Wall Street is something of a "stocks for the everyman/everywoman", breaking his approach down into easy-to-understand concepts.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
