Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Mercury General's share price reached a new 52-week high of $83.34, reflecting investor confidence and trading activity, with an average trading price of $82.98.
• Analysts have recently enhanced their outlook for Mercury General, with Raymond James increasing its price target to $100.00 and several firms upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating.
• The company reported strong financial results, with an EPS of $2.67 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 per share.

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.34 and last traded at $82.98, with a volume of 3694 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCY shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Mercury General currently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $75.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $2.77. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCY. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Mercury General in the first quarter worth about $53,535,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in Mercury General in the first quarter worth about $27,485,000. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 12.8% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,054,504 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $138,350,000 after acquiring an additional 232,721 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Mercury General in the first quarter worth about $12,515,000. Finally, Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new position in Mercury General in the second quarter worth about $10,935,000. 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.

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.