Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $2.77 EPS

Key Points

• Mercury General (NYSE: MCY) reported a quarterly earnings of $2.67 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations by $2.77.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.80%.
• Wall Street Zen has upgraded Mercury General from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, reflecting increasing confidence in the company's performance.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $2.77, Zacks reports. Mercury General had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 5.11%.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MCY traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.44. The company had a trading volume of 304,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,021. Mercury General has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.96.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Mercury General's payout ratio is currently 24.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,923 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercury General by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 111,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,742 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,935 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Mercury General by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,312 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,036,000 after buying an additional 20,115 shares during the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.