Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,550,000 shares, a growth of 23.8% from the January 31st total of 2,060,000 shares. Approximately 9.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 709,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCY shares. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Mercury General stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.68. 127,273 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 357,301. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.80. Mercury General has a fifty-two week low of $44.19 and a fifty-two week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $113,252,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,068,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $243,983,000 after purchasing an additional 165,629 shares in the last quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,254,000 after purchasing an additional 160,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 94.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,276,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

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.