Nuveen LLC Purchases Shares of 223,877 Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 223,877 shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) valued at approximately $12.5 million, representing about 0.40% ownership of the company.
• Research firms have upgraded Mercury General's stock rating, with Wall Street Zen moving from "hold" to "buy" and Raymond James setting a new target price of $90.00.
• Mercury General reported earnings of $2.67 per share, significantly beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 per share, effective September 25th.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 223,877 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,515,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.40% of Mercury General at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Mercury General by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,056,821 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $136,739,000 after buying an additional 16,299 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,252,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter valued at about $53,535,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter valued at about $27,485,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 370,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $24,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Mercury General in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mercury General currently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

Mercury General Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MCY traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, reaching $77.74. The company had a trading volume of 250,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,040. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.96. Mercury General Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $2.77. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 6.76%. Analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.04%.

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.