US Bancorp DE Sells 1,251 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,251 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mercury General by 12,340.0% in the 3rd 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 period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Mercury General by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 113.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY stock opened at $54.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.50 and a 200-day moving average of $62.95.

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

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

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.