Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 337 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 5.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 7,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Mercury General by 1.0% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 60,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Mercury General by 6.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Mercury General during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mercury General by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE MCY opened at $52.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $26.15 and a 1-year high of $57.12.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 2.08%. Equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 72.99%.

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.