Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Short Interest Up 29.5% in December

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, a growth of 29.5% from the November 30th total of 803,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 261,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

In related news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Mercury General during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Mercury General by 112.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Mercury General by 72.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 115.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Trading Down 2.3 %

MCY stock opened at $66.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.64. Mercury General 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 current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 12.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.