Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Position Boosted by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,121,000 after buying an additional 14,328 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $1,159,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 3,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY stock opened at $53.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.24.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Mercury General Profile

Mercury General Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in writing personal automobile insurance in the United States. The company also writes homeowners, commercial automobile, commercial property, mechanical protection, and umbrella insurance products. Its automobile insurance products include collision, property damage, bodily injury, comprehensive, personal injury protection, underinsured and uninsured motorist, and other hazards; and homeowners insurance products comprise dwelling, liability, personal property, and other coverages.