Mackenzie Financial Corp Invests $210,000 in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 5,212.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $278,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Mercury General by 5.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 7,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $53.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.11. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $26.15 and a 12 month high of $57.12.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 1.17%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

Mercury General 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.