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 objective lifted by Raymond James from $8.50 to $10.50 in a report published on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

MERC has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International to a sell rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Securities increased their target price on Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mercer International from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, CIBC raised Mercer International from a sector underperform rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mercer International has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $9.67.

Mercer International Price Performance

Mercer International stock opened at $9.65 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.09. The firm has a market cap of $642.01 million, a PE ratio of -2.65 and a beta of 1.38. 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 $10.42.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $470.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.46 million. Mercer International had a negative net margin of 12.14% and a negative return on equity of 29.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mercer International will post -0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercer International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 27th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 26th. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -8.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercer International

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Mercer International stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 6,042 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.06% of Mercer International worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 85.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.