Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Mercury General Stock Down 2.3 %

MCY opened at $66.98 on Thursday. Mercury General has a twelve month low of $36.96 and a twelve month high of $80.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 the SEC website. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Mercury General by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 310,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,491,000 after purchasing an additional 11,242 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 272.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 21,079 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mercury General by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,839 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,856,000 after purchasing an additional 45,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Mercury General during the second quarter worth about $96,000. 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.