Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) Receives $9.67 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.67.

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

Mercer International Price Performance

NASDAQ MERC opened at $10.60 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $708.61 million, a P/E ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Mercer International has a 12-month low of $7.01 and a 12-month high of $10.84.

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

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.83%. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercer International

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Mercer International stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 about 0.06% of Mercer International worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 85.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mercer International

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.