19,571 Shares in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Acquired by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 19,571 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 145.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Mercury General by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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Mercury General Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MCY traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.71. The company had a trading volume of 287,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,810. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.81. The business's fifty day moving average is $53.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.67.

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, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. 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. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.03%.

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.