Raymond James Raises Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target to $10.50

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Raymond James from $8.50 to $10.50 in a research note issued on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Raymond James’ price target points to a potential upside of 9.95% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “sector underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.67.

Mercer International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MERC traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $9.55. 54,638 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,247. 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 market cap of $635.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 1.38. Mercer International has a 52 week low of $7.01 and a 52 week high of $10.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.06.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Mercer International’s revenue was down 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mercer International will post -0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 6,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 13,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the 1st quarter valued at $155,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the 3rd quarter valued at $173,000. Institutional investors 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.