Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 94.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.55% of Mercury General worth $20,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter valued at approximately $13,068,000. Phase 2 Partners LLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 142.1% during the third quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares in the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,243,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 274.8% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 117,381 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 86,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 113,005 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 52,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCY shares. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of MCY traded down $1.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $55.02. 302,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 390,426. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $80.72. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.81.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.