Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at about $436,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $575,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in Mercury General by 113.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 16,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 7,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in Mercury General by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 51,607 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $68.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.84. 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 1 year low of $36.96 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.08.

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

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.