Rhumbline Advisers Sells 3,968 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,968 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.14% of Mercury General worth $5,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Phase 2 Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,068,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,784,000 after acquiring an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter worth approximately $8,243,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $53.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General Co. has a 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $80.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.28. 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 (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.