Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,412 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,837 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Mercury General worth $7,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 10,014 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 7,606.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 53,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 52,638 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 1st quarter worth about $279,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Mercury General by 19.2% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 9,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 1st quarter worth approximately $200,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCY opened at $73.43 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $35.62 and a 1-year high of $76.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.81.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Mercury General 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.