Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Sets New 52-Week High at $63.78

Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $63.78 and last traded at $63.64, with a volume of 25193 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th.

Mercury General Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.83.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.29. Mercury General had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 6.36%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.47) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 962.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 8,262.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 112.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. 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.