900 Shares in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Purchased by Millstone Evans Group LLC

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Mercury General by 12,340.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Mercury General by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCY. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note 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 Price Performance

NYSE:MCY opened at $55.89 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 firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $44.19 and a 12 month high of $80.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.49.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.