Swiss National Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $3,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at approximately $933,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter valued at approximately $732,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 463.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 4,261 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Mercury General by 1.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 47,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,016,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCY opened at $56.67 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Mercury General Company 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.