Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 8,347 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,042 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,347 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 worth $39,273,000 after acquiring an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Phase 2 Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 142.1% in the third quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 607.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 214,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,505,000 after acquiring an additional 184,121 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter worth $13,068,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% in 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. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mercury General Price Performance

NYSE:MCY opened at $52.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.96 and a 200 day moving average of $63.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.03%.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCY. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.