Mercury General Co. (MCY) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 12th

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of 0.317 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 20.5% per year over the last three years. Mercury General has a payout ratio of 18.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Mercury General to earn $6.90 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 18.4%.

Mercury General Trading Down 2.9 %

Mercury General stock opened at $74.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.34. Mercury General has a one year low of $36.96 and a one year high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Mercury General had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 18.04%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury General

In other news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $83,153.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

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.