Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Hits New 52-Week High at $10.45

Shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $10.45 and last traded at $10.33, with a volume of 6258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MERC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Mercer International from $8.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. CIBC raised shares of Mercer International from a “sector underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mercer International from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.67.

Mercer International Stock Down 2.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $671.84 million, a PE ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 3.82 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.14.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $470.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Mercer International Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercer International Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Mercer International stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) by 19.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Mercer International were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 85.79% of the stock is 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.