Vanguard Group Inc. Has $243.98 Million Stock Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 165,629 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.63% of Mercury General worth $243,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 145.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,738 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 54,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,623,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

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Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $52.23. The stock had a trading volume of 397,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,372. The company's 50-day moving average price is $53.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.76. Mercury General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week 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 market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.81.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCY. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.