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

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

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY opened at $78.85 on Thursday. Mercury General has a twelve month low of $36.37 and a twelve month high of $79.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.24.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mercury General will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.59%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 962.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Mercury General in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mercury General by 8,262.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

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.