Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.10% of Mercury General worth $2,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in Mercury General by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 383,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,756,000 after acquiring an additional 66,574 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Mercury General by 88.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 43,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 20,338 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $304,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter worth $426,000. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter valued at $387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Mercury General stock opened at $57.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.58 and its 200-day moving average is $45.26. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.77. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $59.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 4.48%. Equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 32.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th.

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.