Park West Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 55,865 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,956,000. Park West Asset Management LLC owned 0.10% of Mercury General as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MCY. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.2%

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

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

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.51%.

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.