7,431 Shares in Mercury General Corporation $MCY Purchased by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Mercury General by 579.7% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 25,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 21,768 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,126,000 after purchasing an additional 28,071 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $538,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 51,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,886,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE 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 market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $103.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

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

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.