Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Raymond James currently has $80.00 price target on the insurance provider's stock, up from their previous price target of $70.00.
Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Mercury General
Mercury General Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:MCY traded down $1.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.74. The stock had a trading volume of 822,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,920. Mercury General has a 52 week low of $43.79 and a 52 week high of $80.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.70.
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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Mercury General Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General's payout ratio is 12.59%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Mercury General by 1,190.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 145.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 772.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury General during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company's stock.
About Mercury General
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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