Vanguard Group Inc. Has $192.26 Million Stock Holdings in Mercury General Corporation $MCY

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Mercury General Corporation by 6.3%, owning approximately 3.44 million shares, valued at around $192 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Mercury General reported earnings of $2.67 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and had a revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,439,432 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 230,582 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.21% of Mercury General worth $192,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at $27,485,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at $509,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at $967,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at $1,079,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of MCY stock traded down $0.0330 on Monday, hitting $76.4070. 388,934 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,724. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Mercury General Corporation has a 12 month low of $44.19 and a 12 month high of $80.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.07 and a 200 day moving average of $61.15.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $2.77. Mercury General had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 6.76%.The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.04%.

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.