Hedge fund manager J. Kyle Bass, described by the Wall Street Journal as being known for correctly betting on the housing market’s collapse four years ago, bought a 4.9 percent stake in Milwaukee-based private mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp.
Hayman Capital Management and Hayman Investments, Dallas, bought 10,047,937 shares of MGIC (NYSE: MTG), according to a Nov. 4 regulatory filing. MGIC stock traded on Nov. 4 between $2.52 per share and $2.64 per share before closing at $2.56.
MGIC stock was trading at $2.82 per share as of Monday afternoon with more than 7 million shares traded.
Bass, portfolio manager at Hayman Capital Management, was quoted by The Wall Street Journal Monday as saying his firm’s investment demonstrates his view that the housing market’s losses had largely been absorbed. While some of MGIC’s competitors have gone out of business, Bass told The Wall Street Journal that MGIC has a “pretty big positive equity position.”
“We think they’ll be one of … the last ones standing,” he said. “We’re in it for the long haul.”
