Virtu Financial LLC Invests $331,000 in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% in the 4th 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 period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 12,340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

NYSE MCY opened at $57.14 on Friday. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.