Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $194,000 Holdings in Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) by 12.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mercury General were worth $194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 1.5% during the first 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. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Mercury General by 5.1% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 23,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Mercury General by 4.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in Mercury General during the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Mercury General during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Stock Performance

MCY stock opened at $78.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 0.81. Mercury General Co. has a 12 month low of $36.37 and a 12 month high of $79.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.24.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a $0.317 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 12.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Mercury General Company 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.