Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $108.10 and last traded at $107.9750, with a volume of 46829 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCY shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Zacks Research raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.0%

The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $99.74 and a 200 day moving average of $93.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $1.35. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 13.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Corporation will post 11.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in Mercury General by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,154,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,920,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,149,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,492,000 after purchasing an additional 46,559 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 22.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 578,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,060,000 after purchasing an additional 107,766 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 408,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,387,000 after buying an additional 17,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mercury General by 1.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 346,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,917,000 after buying an additional 6,314 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Mercury General

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.