Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $79.07 and last traded at $79.07, with a volume of 1933 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $78.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Mercury General Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E 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.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.59%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,049,000 after purchasing an additional 48,508 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 4.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,999,235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $106,237,000 after buying an additional 88,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,273,000 after acquiring an additional 15,264 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 310,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,491,000 after acquiring an additional 11,242 shares during the period. Finally, Phase 2 Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares in the last quarter. 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.