11,800 Shares in Mercury General Corporation $MCY Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 11,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,040,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Mercury General by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MCY shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mercury General has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.3%

MCY stock opened at $110.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.89. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.21 and a 52-week high of $111.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $1.35. Mercury General had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post 11.38 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 8.37%.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.