Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY opened at $78.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.54. Mercury General has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mercury General will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCY. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Mercury General by 1.5% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.2% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,158 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Mercury General by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 47,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mercury General

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.