Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,256 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Mercury General were worth $5,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Mercury General Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:MCY opened at $55.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCY shares. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Company 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.