Legato Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 5,716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Mercury General during the third quarter worth $1,051,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Mercury General during the third quarter worth $4,722,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Mercury General by 579.7% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 25,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,401,000 after buying an additional 21,768 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Mercury General by 14.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 103,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,794,000 after buying an additional 13,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Mercury General by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,126,000 after buying an additional 28,071 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.5%

MCY stock opened at $101.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Mercury General Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.62 and a 52-week high of $103.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.92.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $1.35. Mercury General had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 8.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MCY. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

About Mercury General

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.