Mercury General (NYSE:MCY – Get a Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com analysts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report released Saturday to clients and investors.
Separately, Raymond James lowered its price target on Mercury General shares from $45.00 to $40.00 in a Monday, May 8 report.
General stock of mercury down 3.8%
NYSE:MCY shares opened at $30.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty-day simple moving average of $30.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of -4.69 and a beta of 0.59. Mercury General has a 12 month minimum of $26.15 and a 12 month maximum of $46.39.
Mercury General (NYSE:MCY – Get Rating) last released its quarterly results on Tuesday, May 2. The insurance provider reported ($1.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analyst consensus estimates of ($1.15) by ($0.37). The company posted revenue of $1.06 billion in the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Mercury General had a negative return on equity of 10.88% and a negative net margin of 9.15%. On average, equity research analysts expect Mercury General to post -2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Hedge funds weigh on Mercury General
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently changed their holdings in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings of Mercury General shares by 0.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,459,157 shares of the insurance provider valued at $173,274,000 after acquiring an additional 20,677 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings of Mercury General stock by 10.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,051,777 shares of the insurance provider valued at $86,732,000 after acquiring an additional 285,445 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings of Mercury General shares by 24.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,521,741 shares of the insurance provider valued at $48,299,000 after acquiring an additional 299,006 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings of Mercury General stock 10.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,413,436 shares of the insurance provider valued at $62,615,000 after acquiring an additional 138,784 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings of Mercury General shares by 4.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,318,494 shares of the insurance provider valued at $72,517,000 after acquiring an additional 51,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds hold 42.67% of the company’s shares.
Mercury General Company Profile
(Get a rating)
Mercury General Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting of personal automobile insurance in the United States. The Company also underwrites home, commercial automobile, commercial property, mechanical protection and umbrella insurance products. Its auto insurance products include collision, property damage, bodily injury, comprehensive bodily injury protection, underinsured and uninsured motorist and other perils; and home insurance products include home, liability, personal property, fire and other perils.
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