Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 841 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,068,000. Phase 2 Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 142.1% during the third quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares during the period. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,243,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 319.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 35,470 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 27,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MCY. Raymond James raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE MCY opened at $57.08 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.74 and a 200-day moving average of $62.72. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

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.