Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 847 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,161 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after buying an additional 3,341 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Mercury General by 57.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 21,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 7,763 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Mercury General by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 600,519 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,028,000 after buying an additional 10,059 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Mercury General by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE MCY opened at $36.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.91 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.04. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $26.15 and a 1-year high of $39.47.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $1.15. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Mercury General had a negative return on equity of 8.85% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.8 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 14th will be given a $0.3175 dividend. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently -69.02%.

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, fire, and other hazards.