MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) reported Q1 EPS of $0.42, $0.03 better than the analyst estimate of $0.39. Revenue for the quarter came in at $291.7 million versus the consensus estimate of $285.95 million.

Patrick Sinks, CEO of MTG and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation ("MGIC") said, "In the first quarter our insurance in force increased primarily due to strong persistency and the addition of $10.1 billion of high quality new insurance writings. The current conditions of the employment and housing markets contributed to the continued decline in the primary delinquent inventory and low level of new delinquent notices received." Sinks added that, "Given our strong capital position, we were able to increase the dividend paid to the holding company to $70 million in the first quarter and received authorization by our Board to repurchase, over time, an additional $200 million of common stock."

First Quarter Summary

• New Insurance Written of $10.1 billion, compared to $10.6 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
• Insurance in force of $211.4 billion at March 31, 2019 increased by 0.8% during the quarter and 7.1% compared to March 31, 2018.
  • Primary delinquent inventory of 30,921 loans at March 31, 2019 decreased from 32,898 loans at December 31, 2018. Our primary delinquent inventory declined 25.0% year-over-year from 41,243 loans at March 31, 2018.
  • Insurance written in 2008 and before accounted for approximately 16% of the March 31, 2019 primary risk in force but accounted for 65% of the new primary delinquent notices received in the quarter.
• The percentage of primary loans that were delinquent at March 31, 2019 was 2.92%, compared to 3.11% at December 31, 2018, and 4.02% at March 31, 2018. The percentage of flow primary loans that were delinquent at March 31, 2019 was 2.32%, compared to 2.47% at December 31, 2018, and 3.25% at March 31, 2018.
• Persistency, or the percentage of insurance remaining in force from one year prior, was 81.7% at March 31, 2019, compared with 81.7% at December 31, 2018 and 80.2% at March 31, 2018.
• The loss ratio for the first quarter of 2019 was 15.6%, compared to 11.3% for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 10.3% for the first quarter of 2018.
• The underwriting expense ratio associated with our insurance operations for the first quarter of 2019 was 18.9%, compared to 19.1% for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 19.5% for the first quarter of 2018.
• Net premium yield was 47.4 basis points in the first quarter of 2019, compared to 47.3 basis points for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 47.3 basis points for the first quarter of 2018.
• MGIC paid a dividend of $70 million to our holding company during the first quarter of 2019.
• Book value per common share outstanding increased by 6% during the quarter to $10.72. An $81.1 million after-tax change in net unrealized gains (losses) increased book value per common share outstanding by $0.23 during the quarter.

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