Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Stake Cut by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC decreased its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 14.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,830 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned about 0.05% of Mercury General worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCY. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Mercury General by 135.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 9,222 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 16,105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in Mercury General by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General in the first quarter valued at about $259,000. Finally, Capital CS Group LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter worth about $681,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $63.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.34. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $27.30 and a 52-week high of $67.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 14.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.47) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

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.