Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Holdings Lifted by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 40.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,030 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $39,273,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 132.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 15,898 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

In related news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the 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 can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Mercury General Trading Down 5.0 %

Mercury General stock opened at $47.61 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.87. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $37.89 and a 12-month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.