Graham Capital Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. significantly increased its stake in Mercury General Corporation by 784.8%, acquiring an additional 37,253 shares, bringing its total holdings to 42,000 shares valued at approximately $2.35 million.
• Analysts have a positive outlook on Mercury General, as Wall Street Zen upgraded its rating from "hold" to "buy" and Raymond James Financial increased its target price from $80.00 to $90.00.
• Mercury General recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.27 and a yield of 1.6%.

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 784.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 37,253 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Mercury General worth $2,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,252,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,535,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,485,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $12,515,000. Finally, Western Standard LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,815,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $90.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of Mercury General stock traded down $1.38 on Friday, reaching $77.50. 200,881 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,015. Mercury General Corporation has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Mercury General Announces Dividend

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

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.