KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 700 Shares of Mercury General Corporation $MCY

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS cut its position in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 11.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mercury General in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Mercury General in the first quarter valued at $141,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Mercury General by 745.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 24.6% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General in the first quarter valued at $205,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MCY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Price Performance

Mercury General stock opened at $79.66 on Monday. Mercury General Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $87.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.10 and a 200-day moving average of $68.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.98.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $2.77. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 6.76%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.04%.

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.