Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MCY traded up $0.39 on Monday, hitting $60.58. The company had a trading volume of 347,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,935. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $54.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.22. Mercury General has a 1 year low of $44.19 and a 1 year high of $80.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Mercury General by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 84,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,712,000 after acquiring an additional 18,088 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,515,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Mercury General by 745.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,244 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Mercury General by 84.6% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 216,735 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,115,000 after purchasing an additional 99,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,485,000. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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