Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 24,450 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 455,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 24,450 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.82% of Mercury General worth $28,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,999,235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,237,000 after buying an additional 88,954 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 310,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,491,000 after acquiring an additional 11,242 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 607.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 214,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,505,000 after acquiring an additional 184,121 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,492,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,839 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,856,000 after buying an additional 45,671 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.8 %

MCY opened at $77.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.96 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.71 and its 200 day moving average is $61.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.84.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a $0.317 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th.

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.