Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Increases Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 20.6% per year over the last three years. Mercury General has a dividend payout ratio of 19.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mercury General to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.8%.

Mercury General Stock Up 9.5 %

NYSE:MCY opened at $54.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Mercury General has a 1-year low of $39.56 and a 1-year high of $80.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.80 and a 200 day moving average of $63.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.85.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 35.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Raymond James upgraded Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

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.