Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Announces $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.317 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend by an average of 20.5% annually over the last three years. Mercury General has a payout ratio of 18.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mercury General to earn $6.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Mercury General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCY opened at $74.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.34. Mercury General has a 12 month low of $36.96 and a 12 month high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mercury General will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 35.50% 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.