Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,703,550 Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,703,550 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $113,252,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC owned 3.08% of Mercury General at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% in the fourth 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. lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,276,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 216,589 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $14,399,000 after purchasing an additional 101,488 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 233.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,319 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,863,000 after buying an additional 93,283 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Mercury General by 274.8% during 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 buying an additional 86,064 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Up 5.2 %

NYSE:MCY traded up $2.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.11. The company had a trading volume of 348,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,157. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $54.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.32.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. Mercury General's payout ratio is 24.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCY. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 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.