Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,677 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,370 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Mercury General worth $5,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mercury General by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $39,273,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,784,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $424,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Mercury General Trading Up 0.4 %

MCY traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.36. 263,565 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 390,423. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.28. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change 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 presently 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MCY. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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.

Mercury General Company 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.