MGIC Investment's Q1 2025: Unpacking Key Contradictions in Pricing, Market Share, and Regulatory Focus

Macroeconomic sensitivity of pricing and underwriting, competition and market share strategy, tariff impact on pricing and underwriting, mortgage insurance and FHFA focus, and market share and volume trends are the key contradictions discussed in MGIC Investment's latest 2025Q1 earnings call.



Strong Financial Performance and Shareholder Returns:
- MGIC Investment Corporation reported net income of $186 million, with an annualized 14.3% return on equity for Q1 2025.
- The company returned $224 million to shareholders through share repurchases in the first quarter, along with a $33 million common stock dividend.
- The strong financial performance was driven by disciplined risk management and balanced approach in the market.

Insurance in Force and Persistency:
- MGIC ended the quarter with $294 billion in insurance in force, and annual persistency of 85%.
- Both metrics have remained relatively flat over the past several quarters, consistent with expectations.
- The flat growth is attributed to market conditions that have constrained growth in their insurance in force over the last few years.

Capital Management and Liquidity:
- MGIC maintained $824 million in liquidity at the holding company, and repurchased an additional 2.8 million shares of common stock for $66 million in the second quarter (up to April 25).
- The company approved an additional $750 million share repurchase program and paid a $400 million dividend to the holding company.
- The capital management strategy is focused on maintaining financial strength and flexibility, supporting growth, and returning excess capital to shareholders.

Delinquency Trends and Loss Reserve Development:
- MGIC's count-based delinquency rate decreased by 10 basis points in the quarter to 2.3%.
- Favorable loss reserve development resulted in a $50 million improvement, primarily due to higher-than-expected cure rates on delinquency notices from 2023 and 2024.
- The favorable development is attributed to consistent credit quality and performance of the portfolio, and effective underwriting standards.