State Street Corp Purchases 1,421 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,010,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 1.82% of Mercury General worth $63,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCY. Phase 2 Partners LLC increased its stake in Mercury General by 142.1% in the third quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares during the period. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,243,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,068,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 14.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter valued at $436,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Mercury General Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE MCY opened at $67.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.84. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $36.96 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.05.

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

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.59%.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s 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 owned by company insiders.

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.