Mercury General Corp with the ticker (MCY) is a small-cap CA property &casualty insurance company operating in the financial services business sector. This is the fourth of five financial candidates competing for the forty-eighth slot in my Viital folio. It is my first report on MCY for my Viital portfolio. However, I have selected MCY for previous portfolios. 

Mercury General Corp is an insurance holding company operating in the property-casualty market, where it focuses on low-cost auto insurance for individuals, with operations in nearly 13 United States of America states. 

However,  its business--about 75% of premiums--comes from California, where it was established by George Joseph, the current company chairman, and majority owner.

The company sells its policies through a network of independent agents and insurance agencies, as well as directly through internet sales portals in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. 

Mercury General Corporation was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Three key data points gauge any dividend equity or fund such as Mercury General Corporation:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three basic keys best tell whether any company has made, is making, and will make money. 
 

MCY Price

MCY’s price per share was $31.93 as of yesterday’s market close.  One year ago its price was $59.19. So, MCY’s share price fell by $27.26, or about 46% in the past year. 

If MCY’s stock trades in the range of $30.00 to $50.00 this next year, its recent $3193 share price might rise by $4.57 to reach $36.50 by next year. My $4.57 upside estimate lines by about half of the one-year targets from the analyst covering MCY for a broker. 
 

MCY Dividends

MCY’s most recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3175 is payable September 29th to shareholders on record as of September 14th.  

Since March 31, 1986, MCY has paid quarterly variable dividends.  The current forward-looking annual dividend of $1.27. projects an annual yield of 3.98% as of yesterday’s $31.93 share price.
 

MCY Returns

Adding the $1.27 MCY annual dividend to my estimated one-year price upside estimate of $4.57 shows a $5.84 potential gross gain, per share, to be reduced by any costs to trade MCY shares.  

At yesterday's $31.93 closing price, a little under $1000 would buy 31 shares.

A $10 broker fee (if charged) would be paid half at purchase and half at the sale and might cost us $0.32 per share.

Subtract that maybe $0.32 brokerage cost from my estimated $5.84 gross gain estimate per share results in a net gain of $5.52 X 31 shares = $172.12, for a 17.22% net gain including a 3.98% forward-looking annual dividend yield. 

Over the next year, our $1K investment in Mercury General Corporation shares could generate $39.80 in cash dividends. Of course, a single share of MCY stock bought at yesterday's $31.93 price is $7.87 less than the dividend income from our $1000.00 investment. 

So, by my dogcatcher ideal, this is a positive time to acquire MCY shares based on their forward-looking dividends for the year 2022. The forecast annual dividend from $1K invested is $7.87 greater than yesterday’s single share price. Consider yourself alerted. Now is the time.

All of the estimates above are speculation based on the past history of Mercury General Corporation. Only time and money invested in this stock will determine its market value.

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