Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Takes $259,000 Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCY. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 20.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 43,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 7,541 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its position in Mercury General by 16.8% during the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 16,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Mercury General by 88.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 43,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 20,338 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Mercury General by 7.8% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 16,618 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Mercury General by 255.4% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 96,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 68,991 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th.

Mercury General Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MCY opened at $52.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.97. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.27 and a fifty-two week high of $59.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 9.85%. Analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Mercury General 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.