Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $50.26, but opened at $48.60. Mercury General shares last traded at $51.41, with a volume of 826,928 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCY has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mercury General from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Mercury General Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, equities analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Mercury General’s payout ratio is currently 15.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 463.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 4,261 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mercury General by 14.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Mercury General by 60.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 27,327 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Mercury General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $729,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in Mercury General in the third quarter worth $266,000. 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.