Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 117,843 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 207,401 shares.The stock last traded at $60.31 and had previously closed at $64.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercury General Stock Down 19.8 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.87.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Mercury General Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.59%.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

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 value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Mercury General by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 2.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.6% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 1.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 47,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 72.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

About Mercury General

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.