Mercury General (MCY) Competitors

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) and Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in MCY or ORI?

42.4% of Mercury General shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.9% of Old Republic International shares are owned by institutional investors. 35.5% of Mercury General shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Old Republic International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, MCY or ORI?

Mercury General has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Republic International has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MCY or ORI?

Old Republic International has higher revenue and earnings than Mercury General. Mercury General is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Republic International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mercury General	$5.48B	0.58	$467.95M	$8.45	6.76
Old Republic International	$8.23B	1.18	$852.80M	$2.63	14.86

Does the media prefer MCY or ORI?

In the previous week, Old Republic International had 2 more articles in the media than Mercury General. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Old Republic International and 6 mentions for Mercury General. Old Republic International's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Mercury General's score of 0.86 indicating that Old Republic International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Mercury General	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Old Republic International	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MCY or ORI?

Mercury General received 5 more outperform votes than Old Republic International when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.79% of users gave Old Republic International an outperform vote while only 51.13% of users gave Mercury General an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Mercury General	Outperform Votes 248 51.13%	Underperform Votes 237 48.87%
Old Republic International	Outperform Votes 243 62.79%	Underperform Votes 144 37.21%

Is MCY or ORI more profitable?

Old Republic International has a net margin of 10.36% compared to Mercury General's net margin of 8.55%. Mercury General's return on equity of 22.54% beat Old Republic International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mercury General	8.55%	22.54%	5.04%
Old Republic International	10.36%	20.32%	4.47%

Is MCY or ORI a better dividend stock?

Mercury General pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Mercury General pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Republic International pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Old Republic International has increased its dividend for 45 consecutive years. Old Republic International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend MCY or ORI?

Mercury General presently has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 40.00%. Old Republic International has a consensus target price of $37.00, suggesting a potential downside of 5.31%. Given Mercury General's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Mercury General is more favorable than Old Republic International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mercury General	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00
Old Republic International	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Old Republic International beats Mercury General on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.