Bailard Inc. Acquires New Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Mercury General by 145.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 12,340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 1,753.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Price Performance

Mercury General stock opened at $53.97 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current 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 2.35%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

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.