Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Takes $1.69 Million Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General Corporation, purchasing 30,198 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades include a move from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, and Raymond James Financial increased their price target from $80 to $90 for MCY shares.
• Mercury General announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3175, which will be paid on September 25th, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 30,198 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,688,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Mercury General as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,081 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 123.0% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 35,788 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 19,743 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,595,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 772.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Mercury General in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment 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 an average target price of $90.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

MCY traded up $0.5250 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.4950. 242,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 289,517. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's fifty day moving average price is $68.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.83. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 16.61%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Mercury General's payout ratio is currently 18.04%.

About Mercury General

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.