American Century Companies Inc. Buys 107,766 Shares of Mercury General Corporation $MCY

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 22.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 578,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 107,766 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $49,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 236.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 194.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCY. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mercury General has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE MCY opened at $91.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.05. Mercury General Corporation has a 12 month low of $47.06 and a 12 month high of $100.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.92.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The insurance provider reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $1.10. Mercury General had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. On average, analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.