Ieq Capital LLC Makes New $1.16 Million Investment in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Mercury General by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,273,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 132.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 15,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY stock opened at $53.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.85. 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 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $80.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.46.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its 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, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 15.03%.

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.