Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.67.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mercer International from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Mercer International from $8.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. CIBC upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “sector underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Mercer International Price Performance

MERC opened at $10.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Mercer International has a 52-week low of $7.01 and a 52-week high of $10.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.14. The company has a market cap of $671.84 million, a P/E ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 1.38.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.74) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $470.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.46 million. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 29.17% and a negative net margin of 12.14%. Mercer International’s quarterly revenue was down 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mercer International will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 27th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 26th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio is presently -8.24%.

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Mercer International stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.06% of Mercer International worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.79% of the company’s stock.

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.