Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Zacks Research raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of MCY stock opened at $100.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $97.31 and its 200 day moving average is $92.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Mercury General has a 52-week low of $62.25 and a 52-week high of $103.86.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $1.35. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 32.94%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 11.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Mercury General by 85.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 74,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,606,000 after purchasing an additional 34,586 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Mercury General by 29.4% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 33,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after buying an additional 7,693 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Mercury General by 35.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 24,010 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after buying an additional 6,292 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Mercury General by 4.9% in the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,154,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,920,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Mercury General by 5.1% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that underwrites and markets property and casualty insurance products through its principal subsidiary, Mercury Insurance Company. Established in 1961, the company has built a reputation for offering a broad range of personal and commercial lines, with a focus on automobile coverage. Mercury General operates in key U.S. markets, deploying a mix of independent agents and direct distribution channels to serve policyholders.

The company’s product portfolio includes personal automobile insurance, homeowners and renters policies, as well as commercial automobile, business liability and umbrella insurance.