Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 30,198 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 Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 30,198 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,688,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Mercury General at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 772.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Mercury General by 745.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MCY traded up $0.5250 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.4950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 242,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,724. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $68.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCY. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Mercury General in a report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target of $90.00.

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.