Housing

A Rare Upgrade of MGIC -- Simply Magic

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) recovered handily this week, but profit taking and a dilutive $1.1 billion capital raise have put the brakes on in this troubled turnaround. So it is rather interesting to see a credit rating upgrade for this deeply troubled mortgage insurer.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded its corporate credit ratings to B- from CCC+ on Friday. The move might not sound like much, and it might not be anywhere close to investment grade as of yet, but this is a situation that is getting more financially fit for new investors who have been interested in this turnaround mortgage insurer. Today’s upgrades include Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., MGIC Investment Corp., and MGIC Indemnity Co.

S&P also gave it a Stable outlook, based on the new capital raise mitigating the rating agency’s prior concerns about financial statements and liquidity. S&P now believes that the new capital (which would be more than$1.2 billion if overallotments are used) support MGIC’s capital position and will allow management to reach a risk-to-capital ratio of under 25 at the company.

S&P also thinks that this mitigates or eliminates the inherent risks of a regulatory takeover coming into play. S&P even said that the company would have been close to break-even had it not been for reserve charges and charges tied to Freddie Mac and Countrywide settlements.

Today’s news is not likely to move the needle on a day trading basis. The stock rose from $2.60 on February 25, and then it rose all the way up to as high as $61.9 and to a closing high of $5.61 after a seven-consecutive trading day rally. The stock gave back much of those gains to $4.92 on the recapitalization from the $1.1 billion capital raise.

The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)

The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

 

Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

1 https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.