Versor Investments LP Sells 8,800 Shares of Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Versor Investments LP cut its holdings in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 71.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,800 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 18.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Mercury General by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Mercury General by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Mercury General by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 28,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Mercury General by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCY shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mercury General presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MCY stock opened at $98.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.67 and a 200-day moving average of $90.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Mercury General Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.01 and a 12-month high of $102.37. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 0.92.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $1.35. Mercury General had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post 9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.37%.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.