StockNews.com Upgrades Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) to Buy

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Separately, Raymond James raised Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:MCY opened at $62.00 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.24. Mercury General has a 52-week low of $44.19 and a 52-week high of $80.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 0.90.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.00) by $1.71. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mercury General

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCY. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mercury General by 772.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors own 42.39% of the company’s stock.

Mercury General Company Profile

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.