Bryce Point Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Mercury General during the third quarter worth about $13,068,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $243,983,000 after acquiring an additional 165,629 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,276,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Mercury General by 233.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,319 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $8,863,000 after purchasing an additional 93,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 274.8% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 117,381 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 86,064 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:MCY traded down $1.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $52.00. The company had a trading volume of 70,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,212. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.84. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

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Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.3175 dividend. This is a boost from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Mercury General's payout ratio is 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MCY shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

About Mercury General

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.