Two Sigma Investments LP Cuts Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Two Sigma Investments LP reduced its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,867 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 33,912 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned approximately 0.21% of Mercury General worth $7,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 75,400 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,013,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 145.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. NDVR Inc. increased its stake in Mercury General by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Mercury General by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,816 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MCY shares. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Mercury General stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.19. 33,688 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,322. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.58. 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 market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.90. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.