Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $980,000 Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,162 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at $323,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth about $1,159,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mercury General by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 3,579 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MCY stock opened at $53.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.69 and a 200-day moving average of $63.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid 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 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCY. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.