Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Trading Up 2.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) shares shot up 2.9% on Wednesday after TD Securities raised their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $10.50. TD Securities currently has a hold rating on the stock. Mercer International traded as high as $9.50 and last traded at $9.50. 42,722 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 257,138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.23.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MERC. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Mercer International from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. CIBC upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “sector underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mercer International from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mercer International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercer International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MERC. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Mercer International by 10.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 65,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,111 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Mercer International in the first quarter valued at about $155,000. Credit Suisse AG increased its holdings in Mercer International by 9.1% in the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 33,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in Mercer International by 21.5% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 50,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 8,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new position in Mercer International in the third quarter valued at about $173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.79% of the company’s stock.

Mercer International Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The company has a market capitalization of $628.71 million, a PE ratio of -2.60 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.05.

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

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 27th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 26th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -8.24%.

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.