48,836 Shares of Mercury General Corporation $MCY Purchased by CX Institutional

Key Points

• CX Institutional acquired 48,836 shares of Mercury General in the third quarter, valued at approximately $4.83 million. Institutional investors collectively own 42.39% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is strongly positive: Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” while MarketBeat reports a consensus “Strong Buy” rating.
• Mercury General exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $3.52 EPS versus the $2.53 consensus estimate, and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.3175, equivalent to a 1.2% annual yield.

CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 48,836 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,827,000. CX Institutional owned 0.09% of Mercury General at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $78,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCY has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mercury General presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $102.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Mercury General Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.29 and a 1 year high of $113.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.89.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 14.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post 12.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Mercury General's payout ratio is currently 7.51%.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is an insurance holding company that underwrites and provides personal and commercial property and casualty insurance. Through its Mercury Insurance operations, the company primarily serves individuals, families and businesses seeking coverage for automobiles, homes and other property.

Its product offerings include private passenger automobile insurance, homeowners insurance, commercial automobile insurance, dwelling fire coverage and umbrella insurance. Mercury also provides related insurance products and services, including roadside assistance and mechanical protection in certain markets.

Founded in 1961, Mercury General is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

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