Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Shares Acquired by Covington Capital Management

Covington Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY – Get Rating) by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,248 shares during the period. Covington Capital Management’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $1,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 47.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $1,223,000. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 30,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Mercury General by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,401,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,091,000 after acquiring an additional 42,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 14,085 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.54% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Up 3.6 %

MCY stock opened at $30.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.23 and a beta of 0.59. Mercury General Co. has a 1-year low of $27.89 and a 1-year high of $56.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently -13.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, TheStreet raised Mercury General from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd.

Mercury General Profile

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Mercury General Corp. operates as a broker and agency writer of automobile insurance. The firm engages in writing personal automobile insurance and provides related property and casualty insurance products to its customers. Its insurance products include private passenger automobile and related insurance products such as homeowners, commercial automobile and commercial property.