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

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the third 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 1,753.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $53.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

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.