Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 89.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 124,554 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Mercury General by 145.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 772.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercury General Stock Up 0.8 %

Mercury General stock opened at $53.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.32. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.81.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. Research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

Mercury General 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.