Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Short Interest Update

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of 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. Currently, 9.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 709,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mercury General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,252,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the third quarter worth $13,068,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercury General by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,670,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $243,983,000 after acquiring an additional 165,629 shares during the last quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 142.1% during the third quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 273,955 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $17,254,000 after acquiring an additional 160,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Mercury General by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 304,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,276,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MCY shares. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

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Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE MCY traded up $0.42 on Friday, reaching $53.91. 403,232 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,909. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Mercury General has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $54.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.06.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Analysts expect that Mercury General will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

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.