Mercer International Inc. (MERC) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 26th

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.075 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 26th.

Mercer International has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years. Mercer International has a dividend payout ratio of 103.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Mercer International to earn ($0.29) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -103.4%.

Mercer International Stock Up 16.9 %

Shares of Mercer International stock opened at $7.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.23 million, a PE ratio of -2.72 and a beta of 1.29. Mercer International has a 52-week low of $5.33 and a 52-week high of $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 3.79.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $488.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.00 million. Mercer International had a negative net margin of 9.33% and a negative return on equity of 17.62%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mercer International will post -1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on Mercer International from $7.50 to $7.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Mercer International in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mercer International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.25.

Mercer International Company Profile

Mercer International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) and northern bleached hardwood kraft (NBHK) pulp worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Pulp and Solid Wood. It manufactures, sells, and distributes pulp, electricity, and chemicals through pulp mills.