Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Shares Break Above 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) shares passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.43 and traded as high as $102.95. Mercury General shares last traded at $102.5580, with a volume of 281,329 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mercury General presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Mercury General Stock Up 0.9%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.37.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post 13.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Mercury General during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,424,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter worth $1,733,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter worth $1,634,000. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter worth $6,738,384. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the second quarter worth $26,295,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) is an insurance holding company that writes personal and commercial property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. The company is best known for automobile insurance, offering coverage such as liability, collision, comprehensive and uninsured or underinsured motorist protection.

Its product portfolio also includes homeowners, renters, condominium, mobile-home and umbrella insurance, as well as commercial automobile coverage and other related property and casualty products.