Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,466 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,256 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.16% of Mercury General worth $5,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 12,340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Mercury General by 58.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE MCY traded up $0.49 on Thursday, hitting $57.14. 446,858 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 372,905. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $53.00 and a 200 day moving average of $62.36. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note 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.