Crestline Management LP Buys New Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Crestline Management LP bought a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,641 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Mercury General by 102.2% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 175,641 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $11,677,000 after acquiring an additional 88,767 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 49,648 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,301,000 after purchasing an additional 10,607 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $113,252,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,415 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 7,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.3%

Mercury General stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.80. The stock had a trading volume of 117,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,916. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.90. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $55.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.21.

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

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCY. StockNews.com raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James raised shares of 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 report 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.