Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Hits New 52-Week High at $57.23

Shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $57.23 and last traded at $56.92, with a volume of 8236 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $56.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th.

Mercury General Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.21 and a 200-day moving average of $43.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 4.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Mercury General in the third quarter valued at $4,234,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Mercury General by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,893,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $70,662,000 after acquiring an additional 79,659 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in Mercury General by 255.4% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 96,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 68,991 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Mercury General by 21.0% during the third quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 383,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,756,000 after acquiring an additional 66,574 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Mercury General by 219.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 89,746 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after acquiring an additional 61,614 shares during the period. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.