Mercury General Corporation $MCY Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCYFree Report) by 40.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 178,064 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,336 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $15,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 18.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:MCY opened at $105.41 on Friday. Mercury General Corporation has a 12-month low of $66.57 and a 12-month high of $113.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.68.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCYGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $1.35. Mercury General had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 13.68%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 8.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Zacks Research lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Mercury General

Mercury General Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCYFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Mercury General (NYSE:MCY)

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