Jump Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Jump Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 42.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,449 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,008 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 75,400 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Mercury General by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Mercury General by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Mercury General by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,816 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.87. The stock had a trading volume of 272,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,226. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.14 and a 200-day moving average of $60.99. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.81.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

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.