Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) Short Interest Down 22.1% in November

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 383,300 shares, a decline of 22.1% from the October 31st total of 492,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 612,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC decreased their price target on Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Mercer International in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Estrada Juan Carlos Bueno purchased 7,800 shares of Mercer International stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.60 per share, for a total transaction of $51,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,615 shares in the company, valued at $446,259. This trade represents a 13.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Wolfgang Beck acquired 18,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.02 per share, for a total transaction of $111,370.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 26,263 shares in the company, valued at $158,103.26. This trade represents a 238.31 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 41,300 shares of company stock valued at $252,650 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MERC. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercer International by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 525,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 8,957 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Mercer International by 505.8% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 49,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 41,315 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Mercer International by 22.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the first quarter worth about $193,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International in the third quarter worth about $75,000. 85.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mercer International Stock Performance

Shares of MERC opened at $6.21 on Friday. Mercer International has a 12-month low of $5.33 and a 12-month high of $11.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. The company has a market cap of $415.26 million, a PE ratio of -2.19 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.41.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.03. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 17.62% and a negative net margin of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $502.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.39) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. Mercer International’s payout ratio is -10.60%.

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.