Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 486 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,226 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 486 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 132.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,758,000 after buying an additional 15,898 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,273,000 after buying an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCY has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of 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 lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $53.88 on Monday. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.85.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued 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 net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

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.