Inceptionr LLC Acquires New Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Mercury General by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $53.91 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.06. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released 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 return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 15.03%.

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.