Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $1.46 Million Stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,121,000 after acquiring an additional 14,328 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,159,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,575,000 after buying an additional 3,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.7 %

MCY opened at $53.88 on Friday. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.40 and a 200-day moving average of $63.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MCY. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

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.