Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $88.67 and traded as high as $97.18. Mercury General shares last traded at $94.90, with a volume of 155,692 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.79.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The insurance provider reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 20.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post 9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,103,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,816,000 after buying an additional 23,353 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,054,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $138,350,000 after buying an additional 232,721 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 578,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,060,000 after buying an additional 107,766 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 408,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,387,000 after buying an additional 17,306 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 346,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,917,000 after buying an additional 6,314 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.