Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $92.80 and last traded at $92.3750, with a volume of 28603 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCY. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mercury General has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Trading Up 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.32.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $1.71. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 16.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mercury General by 2.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,105,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $117,723,000 after buying an additional 49,155 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 12.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,426,000 after acquiring an additional 18,948 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 1st quarter worth approximately $205,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at $303,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 108.2% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 58,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 30,244 shares during 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.