Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Acquired by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 112.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. 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. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th.

Mercury General Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $49.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.87. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $37.89 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a $0.317 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 12.59%.

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.