5,153 Shares in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Purchased by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCY. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 112.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mercury General Stock Up 1.3 %

Mercury General stock opened at $68.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.47. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.96 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.84.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 12.59%.

About Mercury General

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.