Mercury General Corporation

MCY

Insurance - Property & Casualty · Financial Services

Winston Score

Winston is curious

A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026

How the score breaks down

Quality

Mixed

Growth

Strong

Cash Flow

Exceptional

Stability

Exceptional

Valuation

Good

Dividends

Weak

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Winston Score History

The full picture

Mercury General Corporation sells car insurance to everyday drivers. It also offers homeowners, renters, and umbrella insurance policies. The company focuses mainly on individual consumers rather than large businesses, and it operates primarily in California, where it is one of the largest private passenger auto insurers in the state.

Mercury makes money by collecting premiums from policyholders and investing that cash while it waits to pay out claims. The company sells policies through a network of independent agents rather than directly online, which is a different approach than competitors like Geico or Progressive. Mercury operates in about a dozen states but depends heavily on California, which creates concentration risk — if California faces major wildfires, earthquakes, or regulatory changes to how insurers can price policies, it can significantly hurt the company's profits.

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+13.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

+58.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Strong earnings growth

Insider Activity

52.1%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$1.7B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth + cash flow

Mercury General Corporation is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 14%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

0.0%

Thin — 0.0% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

0.0%

Thin — 0.0% operating margin

Return on the money invested

ROCE

22.1%

Exceptional — 22.1% return on capital

ROIC between 15% and 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns 15 to 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+10.0%

Steady sales growth (+10.0% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

+140.0%

Earnings growing fast (+140.0% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

6/8 quarters

Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

142%

Turns 142% of profit into real cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

19.9%

Converts sales into free cash efficiently (19.9%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

0.33

Conservative — low debt load (0.33)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

39.65x

Comfortably covers interest (39.6x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

6.2x

no trend

Attractive valuation — P/E 6.2

P/E under 10. The price tag is small relative to last year's profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

-2.0

SLOWING

Earnings expected to fall — forward P/E higher than today

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

1.20%

no trend

Small dividend — 1.20% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+0.0%

no trend

Dividend flat

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