Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) CFO Buys 6,000 Shares

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) CFO Richard George Short acquired 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.70 per share, with a total value of $34,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 51,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,877.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Mercer International Price Performance

Mercer International stock opened at $5.68 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a current ratio of 3.46. The firm has a market cap of $379.71 million, a P/E ratio of -1.66 and a beta of 1.34. Mercer International Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.33 and a 52 week high of $11.20.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by ($0.08). Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 17.93% and a negative net margin of 9.90%. The company had revenue of $499.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.48) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Mercer International Inc. will post -1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 25th. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio is -8.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercer International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MERC. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Mercer International in the first quarter valued at about $261,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Mercer International in the 1st quarter valued at about $193,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercer International by 26.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 10,713 shares during the last quarter. 85.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MERC shares. CIBC cut their price target on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com raised Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.38.

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.