Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $1.52 Million Investment in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 14,286 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Mercury General during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $479,604,000. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in Mercury General by 4.9% in the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,154,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,920,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Mercury General by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,149,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,492,000 after purchasing an additional 46,559 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 408,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,387,000 after purchasing an additional 17,306 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 1.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 346,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,917,000 after purchasing an additional 6,314 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $104.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. Mercury General Corporation has a twelve month low of $74.29 and a twelve month high of $113.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $106.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.90.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.99. Mercury General had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post 12.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.51%.

About Mercury General

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.