Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Increases Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 20.6% per year over the last three years. Mercury General has a dividend payout ratio of 19.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mercury General to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.8%.

Mercury General Stock Up 21.4 %

MCY stock opened at $60.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General has a fifty-two week low of $39.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.25 and a 200-day moving average of $63.84.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th.

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.