MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) reported Q4 EPS of $0.28, $0.06 better than the analyst estimate of $0.22. Revenue for the quarter came in at $266.5 million versus the consensus estimate of $258.4 million.

Patrick Sinks, CEO of MTG and its primary subsidiary Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation ("MGIC") said, "I am pleased to report that in 2016 we achieved strong financial results and continued to position our company for further success. Specifically, our insurance in force continued to grow as we added $48 billion of high quality new insurance, the newer books of business continue to generate low levels of new delinquent notices, the legacy books continue to runoff, and we maintained our traditionally low expense ratio." Sinks continued, "In 2016 PMIERS went into effect and we officially complied with a comfortable margin, returned to investment grade, and resumed paying dividends to our holding company. At the holding company we took actions that eliminated 66 million potentially dilutive shares and improved our capital profile."

Sinks added, "We expect to write slightly less new insurance in 2017 compared to 2016 reflecting the current market conditions and a smaller origination market, however, when combined with an improvement in annual persistency we expect that our insurance in force portfolio will continue to grow. We will continue to focus on maintaining our industry leading expense ratio and further improving our capital structure for the betterment of shareholders. Further we anticipate that the number of new mortgage delinquency notices, claims paid and delinquency inventory will continue to decline and we are well positioned to provide credit enhancement and low down payment solutions to lenders, GSEs and borrowers, now, and in the future."

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