Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCY. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth $732,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 463.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 4,261 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 47,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 16,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 7,178 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE MCY opened at $56.30 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

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.