Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MCY. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mercury General from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Mercury General in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

NYSE MCY opened at $85.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 0.93. Mercury General has a twelve month low of $81.64 and a twelve month high of $113.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $99.95 and a 200 day moving average of $98.56.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 10.47%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 13.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other news, Director Joshua Little purchased 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $82.69 per share, with a total value of $62,017.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,760. The trade was a 23.08% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Mercury General in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $479,604,000. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its stake in Mercury General by 4.9% during the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,154,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,920,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,149,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,492,000 after purchasing an additional 46,559 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,295,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 203,830 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,732,000 after purchasing an additional 33,617 shares during the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mercury General

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.