Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $189.49 Million Stock Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 2.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,149,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,559 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $189,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 1st quarter worth $223,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Mercury General by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,064 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,696,000 after acquiring an additional 51,336 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Mercury General by 3,313.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,304 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 7,090 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,886,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY opened at $106.97 on Friday. Mercury General Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $113.06. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $103.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.76. The company has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 8.37%.

Mercury General 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.