StockNews.com Upgrades Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Mercury General Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:MCY opened at $56.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Mercury General has a 1 year low of $27.27 and a 1 year high of $57.12.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 4.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be given a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 5,212.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercury General in the first quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Mercury General by 5.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 7,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.