Mercury General’s (MCY) “Strong-Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial restated their strong-buy rating on shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James Financial currently has a $90.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $80.00.

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $71.58 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.30 and a 200-day moving average of $58.65. Mercury General has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.96. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 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 business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter valued at approximately $230,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 34.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 3,573 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Mercury General by 7.4% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 15,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. 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.