Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Hits New 52-Week High at $10.84

Shares of Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $10.84 and last traded at $10.67, with a volume of 18014 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Mercer International Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.82. The company has a market cap of $708.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.18.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released 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 net margin of 12.14% and a negative return on equity of 29.17%. The firm had revenue of $470.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $508.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mercer International Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -8.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercer International

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Mercer International stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,042 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Mercer International worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.79% of the company’s stock.

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.