Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Hits New 12-Month High at $53.00

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mercury General Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.37 and a 200-day moving average of $38.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 2.08%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 63.0% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,275,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $149,942,000 after buying an additional 2,039,972 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Mercury General by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,521,741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,299,000 after purchasing an additional 299,006 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 10.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,051,777 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,732,000 after buying an additional 285,445 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 20.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,274,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $70,106,000 after buying an additional 219,719 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 3rd quarter worth $4,234,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.