Deutsche Bank AG Sells 29,774 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Deutsche Bank AG lowered its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 52.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,884 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 29,774 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mercury General by 772.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth $68,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $59.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.06 and a 200 day moving average of $59.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 0.90. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $44.19 and a 12 month high of $80.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 24.61%.

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.