Readystate Asset Management LP Makes New $350,000 Investment in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY)

Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,270 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $2,595,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at about $331,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,276,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth about $406,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,081 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Mercury General Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MCY traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $69.13. The stock had a trading volume of 13,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,429. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The business's fifty day moving average is $65.16 and its 200 day moving average is $57.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. Mercury General had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 5.11%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th were paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.61%.

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.