Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $3.39 Million Investment in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 31,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,284 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Mercury General by 32.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCY shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE MCY opened at $104.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.63. Mercury General Corporation has a one year low of $74.29 and a one year high of $113.06.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 14.77%. Equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post 12.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 7.51%.

Mercury General Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.