Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Mercury General Corporation by 31.3%, selling 30,700 shares and now holding around 0.12% of the company.
• Mercury General recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3175, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 18.04%.
• Wall Street analysts have a strong-buy rating on Mercury General with an average target price of $90.00, indicating potential growth and positive earnings forecasts despite a projected EPS of -0.5 for the current year.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 31.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,420 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 30,700 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.12% of Mercury General worth $3,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. NDVR Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 14.7% during the first quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 3,877 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,233 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 24.6% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MCY traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $77.23. 173,165 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,772. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.84. Mercury General Corporation has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. Mercury General's payout ratio is 18.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One research 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 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.