Olympiad Research LP Invests $323,000 in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,273,000 after buying an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 132.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,758,000 after buying an additional 15,898 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $52.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $44.19 and a 12 month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 35.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.