Bailard Inc. Makes New $279,000 Investment in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCY. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Mercury General by 1,753.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter worth approximately $360,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mercury General by 67.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 8,590 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 132.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 15,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Mercury General in the third quarter worth approximately $211,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $53.97 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.21.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 2.35%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.