Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming cut its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 65.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,735 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming's holdings in Mercury General were worth $166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Mercury General by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 218,312 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $14,513,000 after purchasing an additional 10,812 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $424,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 79,677 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,297,000 after buying an additional 17,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,964 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 5,652 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE MCY traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.29. 33,688 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,322. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.58. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Mercury General's payout ratio is 24.61%.

About Mercury General

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.