Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 7,606.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 53,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,752,000 after buying an additional 52,638 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,049,000 after purchasing an additional 48,508 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter worth approximately $486,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 132.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 10,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth approximately $439,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Up 2.2 %

MCY stock opened at $66.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $57.57 and its 200 day moving average is $53.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 0.81. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $27.27 and a 1-year high of $67.11.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.29. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.47) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th.

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.