Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 22,609 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,503,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $243,983,000 after acquiring an additional 165,629 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,273,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 485,767 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,294,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Mercury General by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,276,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Mercury General by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,660 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,121,000 after buying an additional 14,328 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Mercury General Trading Down 1.8 %

MCY traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.09. The stock had a trading volume of 135,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,473. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $53.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.81. Mercury General Co. has a 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $80.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. 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 presently 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCY. StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

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.