Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Stock Price Crosses Below 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY)’s share price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $98.67 and traded as low as $87.51. Mercury General shares last traded at $88.7340, with a volume of 851,300 shares traded.

Mercury General News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mercury General this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter operating income was $3.49 per diluted share, above analyst estimates, while net premiums earned rose 9.6% year over year. Catastrophe losses were also lower than a year earlier. However, operating income per share declined from $3.86. Mercury General Q3 results
• Neutral Sentiment: Mercury declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 per share, or $1.27 annualized. The dividend supports income for shareholders but is unlikely to offset concerns about the quarter’s loss. Quarterly dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: One valuation analysis suggested MCY could be undervalued by 37%, offering a potential counterpoint to the earnings concerns; that estimate is an analyst valuation view, not a company forecast. Mercury General valuation analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The company posted a $13.7 million GAAP net loss, largely reflecting $206.9 million in after-tax realized investment losses, versus a substantial gain a year earlier. Revenue of $1.38 billion also fell short of the cited $1.62 billion analyst expectation, likely weighing on the stock despite the operating-EPS beat. Mercury General Q3 loss report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCY. Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Mercury General Trading Down 13.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.67.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 10.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post 13.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 17th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 17th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 290.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) is an insurance holding company that writes personal and commercial property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. The company is best known for automobile insurance, offering coverage such as liability, collision, comprehensive and uninsured or underinsured motorist protection.

Its product portfolio also includes homeowners, renters, condominium, mobile-home and umbrella insurance, as well as commercial automobile coverage and other related property and casualty products.