Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 21,446 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC reduced its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 77.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,446 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mercury General by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 216,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,399,000 after purchasing an additional 101,488 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Mercury General by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 279,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,566,000 after purchasing an additional 7,177 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Mercury General by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,341 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Mercury General in the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Mercury General by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 26,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 9,087 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Mercury General Stock Performance

MCY opened at $60.11 on Monday. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $54.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.27.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.61%.

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.