Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Stock Price Down 5.8% – Should You Sell?

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) shares dropped 5.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $48.93 and last traded at $48.66. Approximately 66,895 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 1,107,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th.

Mercury General Stock Down 6.9 %

The company has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 623,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,273,000 after acquiring an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Phase 2 Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 142.1% during the 3rd quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,254,000 after buying an additional 160,808 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Mercury General by 607.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 214,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,505,000 after purchasing an additional 184,121 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,068,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 192,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,784,000 after acquiring an additional 12,300 shares during the period. 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.