Vestcor Inc Takes $299,000 Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,492 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Mercury General by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 54,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 274.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 117,381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,803,000 after acquiring an additional 86,064 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Mercury General by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 45,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 19,674 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,595,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.3 %

MCY stock opened at $57.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.72. 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 (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCY. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Profile

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.