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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Mercury General Stock Down 4.9 %

MCY stock opened at $51.66 on Friday. Mercury General has a twelve month low of $26.15 and a twelve month high of $57.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.39 and its 200-day moving average is $41.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.69 and a beta of 0.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 2.08%. Sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.99%.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCY. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the third quarter worth $430,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $86,000. Absher Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.8% in the third quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 720,225 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,188,000 after buying an additional 32,876 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 6.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.