Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 429,745 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 26,082 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.78% of Mercury General worth $28,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 12,340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on MCY shares. 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 raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

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Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $55.89. The company had a trading volume of 311,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,613. Mercury General Co. has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is 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.