66,774 Shares in Mercury General Corporation $MCY Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 66,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,886,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mercury General during the third quarter worth $23,953,000. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its stake in Mercury General by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,054,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $138,350,000 after purchasing an additional 232,721 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Mercury General by 2,513.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 157,893 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,633,000 after buying an additional 151,852 shares during the last quarter. Philosophy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General during the third quarter valued at $11,778,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 229,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,499,000 after buying an additional 71,454 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note 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, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $110.38 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.01. Mercury General Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.77 and a 1 year high of $113.06. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $1.35. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 32.94%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post 11.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 8.37%.

About Mercury General

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.