Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.13% of Mercury General worth $39,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mercury General by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,999,235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $106,237,000 after purchasing an additional 88,954 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 310,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,491,000 after buying an additional 11,242 shares during the last quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 160,808 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Mercury General by 607.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 214,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,505,000 after acquiring an additional 184,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,068,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

MCY opened at $68.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $36.96 and a 12-month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.