D.A. Davidson & CO. Reduces Stock Position in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,497 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $2,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 5,212.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Mercury General by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 7,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth $210,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth $228,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.8 %

Mercury General stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.11. The stock had a trading volume of 176,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,084. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.26. Mercury General Co. has a 12-month low of $27.27 and a 12-month high of $59.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.63. Mercury General had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th.

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.