CIBC Lowers Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target to $5.00

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its price objective trimmed by CIBC from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MERC. TD Securities cut their price target on Mercer International from $5.50 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Mercer International from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Mercer International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.75.

Mercer International Trading Up 5.9 %

Shares of MERC stock opened at $3.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.73 million, a P/E ratio of -2.81 and a beta of 1.08. Mercer International has a 12-month low of $3.20 and a 12-month high of $11.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.20.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 5.18% and a negative net margin of 4.17%. The business had revenue of $506.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $508.42 million. Research analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio is -22.22%.

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MERC. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mercer International by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 525,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,559,000 after buying an additional 8,957 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Mercer International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in Mercer International by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 17,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the last quarter. 85.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.