Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) VP Heidi C. Sullivan Sells 1,076 Shares

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $77.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.05. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $36.96 and a 52-week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth $13,068,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Mercury General by 607.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 214,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,505,000 after purchasing an additional 184,121 shares during the period. Phase 2 Partners LLC grew its position in Mercury General by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,254,000 after purchasing an additional 160,808 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter worth $8,492,000. Finally, Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter worth $8,243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th.

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.