Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Bought by Globeflex Capital L P

Globeflex Capital L P grew its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 87.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,005 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 52,789 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P owned about 0.20% of Mercury General worth $7,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% in the 4th 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. increased its stake in Mercury General by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 increased its stake in Mercury General by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mercury General by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,784,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY opened at $57.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.07 and a 200-day moving average of $62.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year 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.

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Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 15.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.

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