Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Purchases New Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $243,983,000 after purchasing an additional 165,629 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,276,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 216,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,399,000 after acquiring an additional 101,488 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 233.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,863,000 after acquiring an additional 93,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Mercury General by 274.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 117,381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,803,000 after acquiring an additional 86,064 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.1 %

MCY opened at $55.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.73. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72.

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

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. 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 currently 15.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

About Mercury General

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.