Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Acquired by Gunderson Capital Management Inc.

Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,337 shares during the quarter. Mercury General makes up about 2.0% of Gunderson Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Gunderson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $3,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 132.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 15,898 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 15,264 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Mercury General by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 8,976 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 319.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 35,470 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter worth $729,000. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $47.03 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.80 and a 200-day moving average of $64.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.87. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $37.89 and a twelve month high of $80.72.

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

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 35.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.