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

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Mercury General worth $1,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCY. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter worth $211,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the 3rd 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. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth about $852,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at about $933,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCY shares. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock 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 report on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Trading Down 0.3 %

Mercury General stock opened at $57.08 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.74 and a 200-day moving average of $62.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS 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 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued 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 payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

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.