Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 89.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 124,554 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 145.1% during 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 period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 772.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of MCY stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.37. 203,800 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,608. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $54.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Mercury General's payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MCY shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General 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.