Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 21,446 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 77.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,300 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 21,446 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Mercury General were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 0.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 13.2% in the fourth 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.

Mercury General Stock Up 5.2%

NYSE MCY opened at $60.11 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $54.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.90. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during 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%. On average, analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Mercury General's payout ratio is 24.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.

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