D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $442,000 Stock Position in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its holdings in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 82.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,905 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 36,308 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Mercury General were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,459 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,404,000 after buying an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mercury General by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,651 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at $384,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Mercury General in the first quarter worth $53,535,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Mercury General Trading Up 3.6%

NYSE:MCY traded up $2.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $68.41. 461,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 420,975. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's 50 day moving average is $63.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.56. Mercury General Corporation has a twelve month low of $44.19 and a twelve month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 5.11%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 12th. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is 24.61%.

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.