Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $39,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 132.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 15,898 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 20.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,976 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 1,753.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter worth about $729,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 2nd quarter worth about $515,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MCY opened at $68.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.47. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $36.96 and a one year high of $80.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.84.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a $0.317 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 12.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

About Mercury General

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.