Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Shares Down 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) traded down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $99.76 and last traded at $100.9550. 30,830 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 267,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCY. Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Down 2.2%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $106.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.63. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 31.98%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post 12.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCY. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at $479,604,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 10,275.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,512,276 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,479,000 after buying an additional 3,478,423 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,154,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,920,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Mercury General by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,149,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,492,000 after buying an additional 46,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mercury General by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 408,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,387,000 after buying an additional 17,306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.