Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Takes Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% during 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 last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercury General Trading Down 8.5 %

NYSE MCY opened at $50.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.81. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.82 and a 200-day moving average of $62.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.03%.

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.