Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,490 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. FMR LLC lifted its position in Mercury General by 463.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 4,261 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 47,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 16,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in Mercury General by 113.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Trading Down 8.5 %

MCY opened at $50.35 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mercury General Company 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.