Mercury General (MCY) Competitors

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) and Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, community ranking and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ORI or MCY?

Mercury General received 4 more outperform votes than Old Republic International when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.89% of users gave Old Republic International an outperform vote while only 51.13% of users gave Mercury General an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Old Republic International	Outperform Votes 244 62.89%	Underperform Votes 144 37.11%
Mercury General	Outperform Votes 248 51.13%	Underperform Votes 237 48.87%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, ORI or MCY?

Old Republic International has higher revenue and earnings than Mercury General. Mercury General is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Republic International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Republic International	$8.23B	1.14	$852.80M	$2.63	14.38
Mercury General	$5.48B	0.54	$467.95M	$8.45	6.35

Which has more risk & volatility, ORI or MCY?

Old Republic International has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mercury General has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to ORI or MCY?

In the previous week, Old Republic International had 5 more articles in the media than Mercury General. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Old Republic International and 8 mentions for Mercury General. Old Republic International's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat Mercury General's score of 0.91 indicating that Old Republic International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Old Republic International	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mercury General	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ORI or MCY?

70.9% of Old Republic International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.4% of Mercury General shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Old Republic International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 35.5% of Mercury General shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ORI or MCY more profitable?

Old Republic International has a net margin of 10.36% compared to Mercury General's net margin of 8.55%. Mercury General's return on equity of 22.54% beat Old Republic International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Republic International	10.36%	20.32%	4.47%
Mercury General	8.55%	22.54%	5.04%

Do analysts prefer ORI or MCY?

Old Republic International presently has a consensus target price of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.68%. Mercury General has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 49.18%. Given Mercury General's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Mercury General is more favorable than Old Republic International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Republic International	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Mercury General	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00

Is ORI or MCY a better dividend stock?

Old Republic International pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Mercury General pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Old Republic International pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mercury General pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Old Republic International has raised its dividend for 45 consecutive years. Old Republic International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Old Republic International beats Mercury General on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.