Bryce Point Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 7,066 Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mercury General by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,816 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Mercury General by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $50.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.17. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $44.19 and a 12 month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Mercury General 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.