Founded in 1961, Mercury General (NYSE: MCY) is an insurance powerhouse that operates through independent agents across 11 states, with California as its home turf and biggest market. While it's primarily in the personal auto insurance business, Mercury also offers homeowners, commercial auto, and property insurance. Insurance may not be the most exciting industry, but it's good business. Mercury's shareholders have enjoyed a serious rally over the past year, with the stock more than doubling from its late 2023 low. Despite this huge surge, there are compelling reasons to believe this insurance heavyweight may still be trading at a good bargain. First, let's look at Mercury's enterprise value-to-net asset value (EV/NAV) ratio. This key metric sits at a modest 2.06, compared with an average of 10.95 for companies with positive net assets. In other words, you're getting a whole lot more bang for your buck with Mercury than you would with most of its peers. Now let's turn to cash flow. Mercury has consistently generated positive free cash flow for years, and its free cash flow has averaged 9.98% of its net assets over the past four quarters. The average for companies with four straight positive quarters is 7.97%, so Mercury is outperforming its peers in this crucial area. However, identifying undervalued stocks requires us to look at more than these two metrics. We must consider all the information available to us. In Mercury's case, there were a few things in its latest earnings release that caught my eye... |
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