Analyst Boosts MGIC EPS Estimate

Fox-Pitt Kelton analyst Chris Buonafede has issued a daily research note on MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, raising Fox-Pitt's earnings-per-share estimate for the mortgage insurer in 2004.The new estimate is $5.00 per share, up from $4.40 per share. The analyst said the action was based on the belief that growth in MGIC's reserves will slow in the first half of this year compared with that of the second half of 2003. In addition, delinquency trends were better in the fourth quarter than MGIC's management had originally forecast. The note also commented that delinquencies in the first half of a year tend to rise (or fall) at a slower pace than in the last six months of a year.