Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Sets New 1-Year High at $59.96

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $59.96 and last traded at $59.83, with a volume of 27422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercury General Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.56 and a 200 day moving average of $50.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Mercury General had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 4.48%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General Co. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Mercury General by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,049,000 after acquiring an additional 48,508 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,893,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $70,662,000 after purchasing an additional 79,659 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 504,744 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,832,000 after purchasing an additional 14,688 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 310,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,491,000 after purchasing an additional 11,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,492,000. 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.