Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Increases Stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 28,348 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 112.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 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 “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE MCY opened at $49.42 on Monday. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $37.89 and a one year high of $80.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.87.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

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.