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

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

Mercury General Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of Mercury General stock opened at $51.66 on Friday. Mercury General has a 12-month low of $26.15 and a 12-month high of $57.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.39 and its 200-day moving average is $41.59.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 2.08%. Equities research analysts predict that Mercury General will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 72.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,893,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $70,662,000 after acquiring an additional 79,659 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mercury General by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 720,225 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,188,000 after buying an additional 32,876 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 504,744 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,832,000 after buying an additional 14,688 shares in the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 383,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,756,000 after buying an additional 66,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury General by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 334,377 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,373,000 after buying an additional 26,195 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.