Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

Mercury General Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of MCY opened at $56.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Mercury General has a 1-year low of $41.63 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.73.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Mercury General will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 12.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 1,190.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 145.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 772.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.