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

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U)’s share price reached a new 52-week high 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MERC. CIBC upgraded Mercer International from a “sector underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Mercer International from $8.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TD Securities raised their price target on Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. 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 Price Performance

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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.11.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 29.17% and a negative net margin of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $470.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $508.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Mercer International’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mercer International Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Mercer International Announces Dividend

The firm 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 was Tuesday, March 26th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercer International

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

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.