Mercury General Corporation (MCY) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 on March 26th

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 26th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. Mercury General has a payout ratio of 19.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Mercury General to earn $5.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Mercury General Trading Down 9.0%

NYSE MCY opened at $87.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.89. Mercury General has a 12 month low of $47.06 and a 12 month high of $100.06.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The insurance provider reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $1.10. Mercury General had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 21.80%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCY. Zacks Research lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Company Profile

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.