Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $79.07 and last traded at $79.07, with a volume of 1933 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $78.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mercury General Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.24.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released 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. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury General by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,312 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth $325,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,273,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 319.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 35,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter valued at $266,000. 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.