Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.34 and last traded at $82.98, with a volume of 3694 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a report on Monday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.27 and a 200 day moving average of $65.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 16.61%. On average, equities analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were given a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 18.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Mercury General in the first quarter worth approximately $53,535,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,485,000. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Mercury General by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,054,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $138,350,000 after purchasing an additional 232,721 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,515,000. Finally, Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,935,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.