Cwm LLC Boosts Holdings in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY)

CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 157.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 6,372 shares during the quarter. CWM LLC's holdings in Mercury General were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,252,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the first quarter worth approximately $53,535,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $243,983,000 after purchasing an additional 165,629 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,276,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Standard LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,815,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.5%

MCY stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.69. 178,810 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 258,079. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. Mercury General Corporation has a 1-year low of $44.19 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.82. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.96.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.00) by $1.71. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 12.52%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

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.