American Century Companies Inc. Grows Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,976 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $2,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 310,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,491,000 after purchasing an additional 11,242 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,492,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,839 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,856,000 after purchasing an additional 45,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gunderson Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,856,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $63.21 on Friday. Mercury General Co. has a 52-week low of $27.30 and a 52-week high of $67.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.90 and a 200-day moving average of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned ($0.47) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

About Mercury General

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.