New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,812 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Mercury General worth $2,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCY. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 115.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MCY opened at $52.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.3175 dividend. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.