Martingale Asset Management L P Raises Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 51,607 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $3,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 962.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 8,262.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the second quarter worth about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $78.96 on Friday. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.59%.

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.