TD Cowen Downgrades Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) to Sell

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) was downgraded by equities researchers at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $2.25 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $2.00. TD Cowen’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 8.16% from the stock’s current price.

MERC has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Mercer International from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Mercer International in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.10.

Mercer International Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Mercer International stock opened at $2.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.30. The firm has a market cap of $164.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.95 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.65. Mercer International has a fifty-two week low of $1.48 and a fifty-two week high of $8.28.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.08). Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 37.38% and a negative net margin of 9.04%.The firm had revenue of $458.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.70 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Peter R. Kellogg bought 295,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.69 per share, for a total transaction of $498,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,520,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,568,800. This represents a 24.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,007,718 shares of company stock valued at $1,860,644. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MERC. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Mercer International in the second quarter valued at about $244,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 340.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 276,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 214,008 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,804,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Mercer International by 16.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 994,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,866,000 after buying an additional 137,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iat Reinsurance Co. LTD. increased its holdings in Mercer International by 1.3% in the third quarter. Iat Reinsurance Co. LTD. now owns 16,700,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,096,000 after buying an additional 220,000 shares during the last quarter. 85.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercer International Company Profile

Mercer International Inc is a publicly traded pulp producer headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol MERC, the company specializes in the manufacture of Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp and dissolving pulp for use in tissue, specialty paper and textile applications.

Mercer’s core business activities include the operation of integrated pulp mills in North America and Europe. Its production portfolio encompasses NBSK pulp, renowned for its strength and versatility, and dissolving pulp, which serves as a key raw material in the manufacture of viscose, cellulose acetate and other specialty products.

The company’s facilities are located in British Columbia and the U.S.