Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Trading Down 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)’s share price dropped 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $51.00 and last traded at $51.00. Approximately 36,124 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 1,084,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th.

Mercury General Stock Down 1.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is 12.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of Mercury General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCY. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Mercury General by 1,190.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Mercury General by 112.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Mercury General by 72.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 115.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Mercury General by 12,340.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

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.