Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 1,835 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 370,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $24,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,252,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $243,983,000 after acquiring an additional 165,629 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 94.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,276,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 216,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,399,000 after acquiring an additional 101,488 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 233.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,863,000 after acquiring an additional 93,283 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE:MCY opened at $60.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. Research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.61%.

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.