$45.10

2.62 (6.17%)

10/10/2008 4:00 PM

Mercury General Corp (MCY)

CAPS Rating:

The Company and its subsidiaries are engaged primarily in writing automobile insurance in a number of states, principally California.

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What the Community Thinks

Total Members

42 Outperforms

12 Underperforms

All-Stars

18 Outperforms

6 Underperforms

Wall Street

7 Outperforms

1 Underperforms

Members bullish on MCY are also bullish on:

Members bearish on MCY are also bearish on:

Ticker Tags

Dividend (206), Property & Casualty Insurance (110), Small Cap (1922), Casualty Insurance (100), Among Most Trustworthy Companies (97)
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Mercury General Corp At A Glance

Current Price:	$45.10
Last Trade Time:	10/10/2008 4:00 PM
Open:	$41.65
Previous Close:	$42.48
Daily Range:	$39.82 - $45.72
52-Week Range:	$41.72 - $62.00
Volume:	446,772
Market Cap:	$3.39B
P/E Ratio:	19.40
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Stock Trends

MCY VS S&P 500 (SPY)

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Other News Headlines for MCY

Earnings roundup: Six Flags, Mercury General
8/4/2008 2:25:00 PM - AP
Mercury General profit 2Q up modestly on gain
8/4/2008 10:31:00 AM - AP
Closing Glance: Insurers fall
7/11/2008 4:19:00 PM - AP
Opening Glance: Insurers
7/11/2008 9:58:00 AM - AP

More Headlines...

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1 Mercury General Corp (MCY)

Avatar NetscribeInsuran (34.09) Submitted: 3/01/07 8:33 AM

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Mercury General Corporation (MCY) and its subsidiaries are engaged primarily in writing automobile insurance principally in California and other thirteen states. With more than 4,900 independent agents and brokers, the company offers a variety of products for homeowners...More

Replies: 0 | Reply | Permalink

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Mercury General Corporation (MCY) and its subsidiaries are engaged primarily in writing automobile insurance principally in California and other thirteen states. With more than 4,900 independent agents and brokers, the company offers a variety of products for homeowners but private passenger automobile lines of insurance stands as its principal business, accounting for approximately 84% of the $3 billion of the total direct premiums written in 2006.

For 2006, Mercury General Corporation's revenues increased 5% to $3 billion due to increased earned premium. But conversely, its net income decreased 15% to $214.8 million due to higher paid losses and loss adjustment expenses, increase in policy acquisition costs and increased loss reserves in Florida. The combined ratio of the company in 2006 was 95% compared to 92.4% for the 2005, which was primarily due to higher loss ratio.

Competitive marketplaces, safer cars, aggressive fraud-fighting and innovative underwriting are joining forces in 2007 to drive down the price of an essential financial product like automobile insurance as well as homeowner’s insurance in California and other parts of the county. This will reduce the premium collection per policy for the company and therefore it is expected that premium growth in California will slow down. Reflecting an already competitive environment, decreasing rates for both auto and homeowners and deteriorating underwriting results will impact the profitability of the company adversely.

Company has stopped providing a breakdown between California's auto and homeowners results, but based upon the slow growth described by many auto-only underwriters in California, it is believed that homeowners business is the primary driver of Mercury's recent premium growth in the state. As a result, Mercury's growth is expected to decelerate as its major competitors' rate decreases take effect on account of declining premium growth in California as well as other city operations in 2007. Thus in the near future the company does not seem to be a good bet.

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Recs 0 (MCY) lovesaves (99.70) Submitted: 3/11/08 6:25 PM : Start Price: $43.49 MCY Score: -37.03 Found this company under the insurance tag. Sell all property insurance and casualty stocks, or see your portfolio bcome a casualty! Warren Buffett is negative on the sector and that's good enough for me. Financial sector s--t has to work iits way through the whole goose. Report this Post Replies: 0 \| Reply \| Permalink Oops! There appears to be a problem with your comment. Check to see if there's something you left out. Recs 0 (MCY) rufianno (96.36) Submitted: 8/22/07 6:26 PM : Start Price: $51.88 MCY Score: 26.87 buy and hold Report this Post Replies: 0 \| Reply \| Permalink Oops! There appears to be a problem with your comment. Check to see if there's something you left out. Recs 0 (MCY) athenamike (92.43) Submitted: 4/20/07 12:18 PM : Start Price: $51.24 MCY Score: 28.20 Although short term difficulties exist, I believe Mercury General can generate 14% returns on equity and achieve 10.5% growth over the next 5 years. Mercury is having a difficult time extending its successful auto insurance model outside of California, but I believe its capable and experienced management team will overcome these difficulties and execute well over the long term. Report this Post Replies: 0 \| Reply \| Permalink Oops! There appears to be a problem with your comment. Check to see if there's something you left out. Recs 1 (MCY) NetscribeInsuran (34.09) Submitted: 3/01/07 8:33 AM : Start Price: $49.25 MCY Score: -28.06 Headquartered in Los Angeles, Mercury General Corporation (MCY) and its subsidiaries are engaged primarily in writing automobile insurance principally in California and other thirteen states. With more than 4,900 independent agents and brokers, the company offers a variety of products for homeowners but private passenger automobile lines of insurance stands as its principal business, accounting for approximately 84% of the $3 billion of the total direct premiums written in 2006. For 2006, Mercury General Corporation's revenues increased 5% to $3 billion due to increased earned premium. But conversely, its net income decreased 15% to $214.8 million due to higher paid losses and loss adjustment expenses, increase in policy acquisition costs and increased loss reserves in Florida. The combined ratio of the company in 2006 was 95% compared to 92.4% for the 2005, which was primarily due to higher loss ratio. Competitive marketplaces, safer cars, aggressive fraud-fighting and innovative underwriting are joining forces in 2007 to drive down the price of an essential financial product like automobile insurance as well as homeowner’s insurance in California and other parts of the county. This will reduce the premium collection per policy for the company and therefore it is expected that premium growth in California will slow down. Reflecting an already competitive environment, decreasing rates for both auto and homeowners and deteriorating underwriting results will impact the profitability of the company adversely. Company has stopped providing a breakdown between California's auto and homeowners results, but based upon the slow growth described by many auto-only underwriters in California, it is believed that homeowners business is the primary driver of Mercury's recent premium growth in the state. As a result, Mercury's growth is expected to decelerate as its major competitors' rate decreases take effect on account of declining premium growth in California as well as other city operations in 2007. Thus in the near future the company does not seem to be a good bet. Report this Post Replies: 0 \| Reply \| Permalink Oops! There appears to be a problem with your comment. Check to see if there's something you left out. Recs 0 (MCY) gecko10x (58.87) Submitted: 2/15/07 2:17 PM : Start Price: $50.56 MCY Score: 28.54 undervalued Report this Post Replies: 0 \| Reply \| Permalink Oops! There appears to be a problem with your comment. Check to see if there's something you left out.
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	TrackBRogers	99.12	05/28/08		1Y	$49.80	-9.44%	-36.33%	+26.89
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