Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Stock: Insider Joshua Eric Little Buys 750 Shares

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) Director Joshua Little purchased 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $82.69 per share, with a total value of $62,017.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $330,760. This represents a 23.08% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $83.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.56. Mercury General Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.64 and a 52 week high of $113.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 0.93.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.47% and a return on equity of 29.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Corporation will post 13.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Mercury General in the second quarter worth $44,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Mercury General by 290.7% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Mercury General during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Mercury General in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mercury General from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a property and casualty insurance company best known for its personal auto insurance. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company also offers homeowners, renters, commercial auto, and other insurance products, including umbrella coverage. Founded in 1961, Mercury distributes policies through independent agents and direct-to-consumer channels. California is its primary market, and the company also serves customers in other U.S. states.