JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 93,283 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 233.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,319 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 93,283 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.24% of Mercury General worth $8,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,738 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Mercury General by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Mercury General by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 54,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,623,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MCY traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.63. 384,437 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 401,715. 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's fifty day moving average is $54.24 and its 200-day moving average is $61.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.81. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72.

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

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

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.