Northern Trust Corp Acquires 7,177 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 279,271 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,177 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.50% of Mercury General worth $18,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 319.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,557 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 35,470 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the third quarter worth approximately $325,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General by 6.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,312 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,059 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 7,337 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MCY. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MCY traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.88. The stock had a trading volume of 315,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,808. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $44.19 and a 12 month high of $80.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. 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, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Mercury General's payout ratio is 24.61%.

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.