Delphi Management Inc. MA Invests $708,000 in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Delphi Management Inc. MA acquired a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Mercury General by 132.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 15,898 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCY has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE:MCY opened at $57.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.72. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 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.