Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $80.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $70.00.

Separately, StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY stock opened at $54.86 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.78. Mercury General has a 52 week low of $39.56 and a 52 week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 12.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Mercury General by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

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.