Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Mercury General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 20.6% per year over the last three years. Mercury General has a payout ratio of 19.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Mercury General to earn $3.45 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 36.8%.

Mercury General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCY traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $50.13. 1,266,942 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,047,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. Mercury General has a 52 week low of $39.56 and a 52 week high of $80.72.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 10.18%. Sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mercury General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th.

Insider Transactions at Mercury General

In other Mercury General news, VP Heidi C. Sullivan sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $83,153.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.