Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Director Buys $62,017.50 in Stock

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) Director Joshua Little acquired 750 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $82.69 per share, for a total transaction of $62,017.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $330,760. This represents a 23.08% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE MCY traded up $0.29 on Monday, reaching $82.90. 446,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 282,748. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $101.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 0.93. Mercury General Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.64 and a fifty-two week high of $113.06.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.06. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.47% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post 13.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 17th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 17th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is presently 10.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCY. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mercury General from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Mercury General by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 35,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Mercury General in the third quarter valued at about $4,472,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Mercury General by 154.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Mercury General by 54.3% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 5,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Mercury General by 1.0% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation is a property and casualty insurance company best known for its personal auto insurance. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company also offers homeowners, renters, commercial auto, and other insurance products, including umbrella coverage.

Founded in 1961, Mercury distributes policies through independent agents and direct-to-consumer channels. California is its primary market, and the company also serves customers in other U.S. states.