Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $69.65 and traded as high as $78.07. Mercury General shares last traded at $76.7830, with a volume of 265,270 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mercury General currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $2.77. Mercury General had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 6.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter valued at $384,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,459 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,404,000 after buying an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 115.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 6,413 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 157.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter valued at $350,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.