- Mercury General (MCY) has strong technical momentum and hit a new all-time high in Monday morning trading.
- MCY maintains a 100% “Buy” opinion from Barchart and a Trend Seeker “Buy” signal.
- Shares have gained 30% over the past year.
- MCY’s fundamentals show projected revenue growth, a rebound in earnings next year, and positive sentiment from both Wall Street and retail investors.
Today’s Featured Stock
Valued at $4.61 billion, Mercury General (MCY) is engaged primarily in writing all risk classifications of automobile insurance. The company offers automobile policyholders the following types of coverage: bodily injury liability, underinsured and uninsured motorist, property damage liability, comprehensive, and collision.
What I’m Watching
I found today’s Chart of the Day by using Barchart’s powerful screening functions to sort for stocks with the highest technical buy signals; superior current momentum in both strength and direction; and a Trend Seeker “buy” signal. I then used Barchart’s Flipcharts feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. MCY checks those boxes. Since the Trend Seeker signaled a "Buy" on Aug. 4 the stock gained 16.07%.
MCY Price vs. Daily Moving Average:
Barchart Technical Indicators for Mercury General
Editor’s Note: The technical indicators below are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change each day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report. These technical indicators form the Barchart Opinion on a particular stock.
Mercury hit an all-time high of $83.34 in morning trading on Sept. 29.
- MCY has a Weighted Alpha of +51.08.
- Mercury has an 100% “Buy” opinion from Barchart.
- The stock gained 28.97% over the past year.
- MCY has its Trend Seeker “Buy” signal intact.
- Mercury is trading above its 20-, 50-, and 100-day moving averages.
- The stock made 8 new highs and gained 5.46% in the last month.
- Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 73.53.
- There’s a technical support level around $82.37.
Don’t Forget the Fundamentals
- $4.61 billion market capitalization.
- 14.35x trailing price-earnings ratio.
- 1.52% dividend yield.
- Revenue is projected to grow 8.92% this year and another 5.66% next year.
- Earnings are estimated to decrease by 37.41% this year but increase again by 64.44% next year.
Analyst and Investor Sentiment on Mercury General
I don’t buy stocks because everyone else is buying, but I do realize that if major firms and investors are dumping stock, it’s hard to make money swimming against the tide.
It looks like Wall Street analysts are high on MCY and so are individual investors.
- The Wall Street analysts tracked by Barchart have issued 2 “Strong Buys” and 1 “Hold” opinion on the stock.
- The average price target tracked by Barchart is $100.
- Value Line gives the stock its “Highest” rating but with a price target of $95.
- CFRA’s MarketScope Advisor rates it a “Buy.”
- Morningstar thinks the stock is fairly valued.
- 268 investors following the stock on Motley Fool think the stock will beat the market while 64 think it won’t.
- 7,250 investors monitor the stock on Seeking Alpha, which rates the stock a “Strong Buy” and comments: “MCY’s strong growth and profitability, combined with positive momentum, justify its Strong Buy rating, despite some concerns over valuation relative to sector peers.”
The Bottom Line on MCY
MCY appears to have backing not only from Wall Street, but also from other financial advisory sites and individual investors.
Today’s Chart of the Day was written by Jim Van Meerten. Read previous editions of the daily newsletter here.
Additional disclosure: The Barchart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance.
