Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 224 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $5,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $52.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 0.81. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.3175 dividend. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 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.