Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $8.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential downside of 2.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MERC. Raymond James cut shares of Mercer International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. CSFB lowered their target price on Mercer International from $9.50 to $9.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Mercer International from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on shares of Mercer International from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mercer International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.60.

Mercer International Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MERC traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $8.18. The company had a trading volume of 57,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,328. The firm has a market capitalization of $544.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.65 and its 200-day moving average is $9.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.70. Mercer International has a 1-year low of $7.37 and a 1-year high of $14.97.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported ($1.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.04) by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $529.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.77 million. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 5.41% and a negative net margin of 1.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MERC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mercer International by 2.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 436,073 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,519,000 after acquiring an additional 12,335 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC grew its stake in Mercer International by 29.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 6,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Mercer International by 1.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 226,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 242,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after buying an additional 12,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Mercer International by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 65,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $640,000 after buying an additional 4,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.89% of the company’s stock.

Mercer International Company Profile

Mercer International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp in Europe, the United States, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Pulp and Wood Products. It also generates and sells green energy produced from biomass cogeneration power plant to third party utilities.