Mercury General Corporation $MCY Shares Sold by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,915 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Mercury General by 3.7% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Mercury General by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,233 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

MCY stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.05. 27,256 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,949. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.92. Mercury General Corporation has a 52 week low of $47.06 and a 52 week high of $100.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The insurance provider reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $1.10. Mercury General had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.00%.

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.