Driehaus Capital Management LLC Sells 74,274 Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 15.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 411,429 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 74,274 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.74% of Mercury General worth $21,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 7,606.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 53,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 52,638 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,049,000 after purchasing an additional 48,508 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 10,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $63.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.07. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $27.30 and a one year high of $67.11.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 14.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.47) EPS. Research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post 4 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, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

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.