Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Downgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Mercury General Stock Up 2.8 %

MCY stock opened at $53.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.52 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General has a twelve month low of $26.15 and a twelve month high of $57.12.

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

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.99%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,234,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,893,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $70,662,000 after acquiring an additional 79,659 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 255.4% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 96,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 68,991 shares in the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 383,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,756,000 after acquiring an additional 66,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Mercury General by 219.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 89,746 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 61,614 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.