Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 5,022 Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

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

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 5,212.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth $278,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in Mercury General by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded 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 %

Mercury General stock opened at $52.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $27.27 and a one year high of $59.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.86 and a 200 day moving average of $47.97.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.63. Mercury General had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 4.48%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

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

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.