Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Declares $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 20.6% per year over the last three years. Mercury General has a payout ratio of 21.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of MCY stock opened at $56.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 0.90. Mercury General has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.70 and a 200-day moving average of $60.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCY. Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.