Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $80.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $70.00.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY opened at $54.86 on Wednesday. Mercury General has a 12-month low of $39.56 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.78.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mercury General will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 35.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the second quarter worth approximately $299,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Mercury General by 115.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 99.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 27,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 13,589 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Company Profile

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.