Versor Investments LP Acquires New Shares in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 6,100 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 21,985 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,660 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,121,000 after buying an additional 14,328 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,159,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mercury General by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,991 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $8,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

NYSE:MCY traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.16. 127,948 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 356,250. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.29 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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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 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This is an increase from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of 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 increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

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.