Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Reaches New 52-Week High at $53.00

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $53.00 and last traded at $52.42, with a volume of 21689 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.13.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 2.08%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 72.99%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 383,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,756,000 after buying an additional 66,574 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 88.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 43,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 20,338 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 3rd quarter valued at about $304,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $387,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.