Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Position in Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,178 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,482 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.53% of Mercury General worth $16,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,459 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,404,000 after acquiring an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Financial LLC bought a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at about $232,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mercury General by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 4,651 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying 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 about $384,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,535,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Stock Performance

MCY stock opened at $68.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.71. Mercury General Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.19 and a 52 week high of $80.72.

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

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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.