Marshall Wace LLP Boosts Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 664.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 45,736 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.10% of Mercury General worth $3,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $243,983,000 after buying an additional 165,629 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Mercury General by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,276,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 233.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,319 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $8,863,000 after purchasing an additional 93,283 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 274.8% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 117,381 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 86,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,651,000. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Price Performance

NYSE:MCY traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $54.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,249. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.03%.

Mercury General Company 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.