Mercury General Corporation $MCY Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 40.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,064 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,336 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Mercury General worth $15,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Mercury General by 18.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 32.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Trading Up 2.6%

MCY opened at $105.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.68. Mercury General Corporation has a 1-year low of $66.57 and a 1-year high of $113.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Mercury General Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Company Profile

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.