Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MCY stock opened at $55.54 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.13. Mercury General has a 1 year low of $27.27 and a 1 year high of $57.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 0.77.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $1.10. Mercury General had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Mercury General will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter worth $4,234,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% during 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 increased its holdings in Mercury General by 255.4% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 96,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 68,991 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 66,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 worth $2,516,000 after buying an additional 61,614 shares during the period. 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.