Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mercury General presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Price Performance

Mercury General stock opened at $86.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.94. Mercury General has a one year low of $47.06 and a one year high of $100.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The insurance provider reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $1.10. Mercury General had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,103,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,816,000 after acquiring an additional 23,353 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP raised 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 valued at $138,350,000 after purchasing an additional 232,721 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 666,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,907,000 after purchasing an additional 12,728 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 578,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,060,000 after purchasing an additional 107,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 560,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,756,000 after purchasing an additional 68,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.