Delphi Management Inc. MA Takes Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Delphi Management Inc. MA acquired a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,653 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 132.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,758,000 after buying an additional 15,898 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,273,000 after buying an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,784,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

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Mercury General Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MCY traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.89. The stock had a trading volume of 846,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 875,789. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This is an increase from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Company 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.