Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires New Position in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 37,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,141,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Mercury General at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,054,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $138,350,000 after purchasing an additional 232,721 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter valued at about $10,935,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Mercury General by 2,513.7% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 157,893 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,633,000 after acquiring an additional 151,852 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 57.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 340,029 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,008,000 after acquiring an additional 123,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Mercury General by 79.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 162,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,953,000 after acquiring an additional 71,844 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mercury General Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MCY opened at $95.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.45. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $96.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.81. The stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.97.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $1.71. Mercury General had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 16.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCY. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.