Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCY. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,273,000 after acquiring an additional 15,264 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after acquiring an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth about $424,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MCY shares. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCY opened at $56.30 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Mercury General 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.