Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Increases Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 20.6% annually over the last three years. Mercury General has a payout ratio of 19.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Mercury General to earn $3.45 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 36.8%.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCY traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 822,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,920. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.85. Mercury General has a twelve month low of $43.79 and a twelve month high of $80.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.95 and a 200 day moving average of $63.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. On average, equities analysts expect that Mercury General will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 35.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MCY shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday.

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.