Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Short Interest Up 29.5% in December

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, an increase of 29.5% from the November 30th total of 803,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 261,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the second quarter worth $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 112.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 115.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

Mercury General Trading Down 2.3 %

MCY opened at $66.98 on Friday. Mercury General has a 1-year low of $36.96 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its 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 return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.59%.

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.