Farther Finance Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Farther Finance Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,105,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,723,000 after acquiring an additional 49,155 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,535,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter worth approximately $27,485,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 32.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 405,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,665,000 after buying an additional 100,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 57.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 340,029 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,008,000 after buying an additional 123,440 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE MCY opened at $85.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.98. Mercury General Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $87.67.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $2.77. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 16.61%. On average, analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 18.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mercury General currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Company 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.