Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 9,278 Shares of Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,079,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,278 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.75% of Mercury General worth $176,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 223.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,596,000 after buying an additional 13,004 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 470,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,711,000 after buying an additional 65,441 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,141,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,722,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 63,899 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,303,000 after acquiring an additional 13,937 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mercury General presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MCY stock opened at $89.49 on Tuesday. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $47.06 and a 52-week high of $100.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.18 and its 200-day moving average is $86.44.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The insurance provider reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $1.10. Mercury General had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 9.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.00%.

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.