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

Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be given a dividend of 0.3175 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th.

Mercury General has decreased its dividend by an average of 20.5% annually over the last three years. Mercury General has a dividend payout ratio of 25.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mercury General to earn $3.90 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 32.6%.

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY stock opened at $59.92 on Thursday. Mercury General has a 1 year low of $27.27 and a 1 year high of $61.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.91.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.29. Mercury General had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 6.36%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.47) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mercury General will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th.

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.