Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $266,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth about $729,000. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 76,590 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 7,648 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 27,327 shares during the period. Finally, Phase 2 Partners LLC increased its position in Mercury General by 142.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MCY opened at $68.19 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. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $36.96 and a one year high of $80.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.84.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 12.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

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.