Insider Buying: Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Director Acquires $62,017.50 in Stock

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) Director Joshua Little acquired 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $82.69 per share, with a total value of $62,017.50. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $330,760. The trade was a 23.08% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY stock opened at $85.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. Mercury General Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.64 and a 52 week high of $113.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.56.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.06. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.47% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post 13.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercury General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 17th will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 17th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCY. Wall Street Zen lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mercury General from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 2.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,284 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Point Nemo Capital LLC grew its position in Mercury General by 0.9% during the third quarter. Point Nemo Capital LLC now owns 13,911 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,375,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Mercury General by 1.0% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Mercury General by 0.5% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 35,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew its position in Mercury General by 0.6% during the third quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 26,650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,634,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation is a property and casualty insurance company best known for its personal auto insurance. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company also offers homeowners, renters, commercial auto, and other insurance products, including umbrella coverage. Founded in 1961, Mercury distributes policies through independent agents and direct-to-consumer channels. California is its primary market, and the company also serves customers in other U.S. states.