Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target Increased to $10.50 by Analysts at Raymond James

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its price target boosted by Raymond James from $8.50 to $10.50 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MERC. StockNews.com raised Mercer International to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. CIBC raised Mercer International from a sector underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $9.67.

Mercer International Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Mercer International stock opened at $9.54 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 12 month low of $7.01 and a 12 month high of $10.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.07. The stock has a market cap of $634.70 million, a PE ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 1.38.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $470.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $508.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mercer International will post -0.63 EPS for the current year.

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 27th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 26th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Mercer International’s payout ratio is -8.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its position in shares of Mercer International by 29.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 6,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mercer International during the fourth quarter worth about $99,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Mercer International during the first quarter worth about $155,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Mercer International by 19.6% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 13,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Mercer International during the third quarter worth about $173,000. 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.