Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,036 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 46,250 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.07% of Mercury General worth $2,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mercury General by 4.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 88,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,273,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,254,000 after purchasing an additional 160,808 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in 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 worth $13,505,000 after buying an additional 184,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Mercury General during the third quarter worth approximately $13,068,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Trading Down 7.3 %

NYSE MCY opened at $48.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.47. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $37.89 and a one year high of $80.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.87.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th.

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.