Raymond James Has Lowered Expectations for Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Stock Price

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Raymond James from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. Raymond James’ price target indicates a potential upside of 4.01% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Mercer International in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five 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 $8.25.

Mercer International Stock Performance

Shares of MERC opened at $6.73 on Thursday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.58. Mercer International has a 12 month low of $5.33 and a 12 month high of $11.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.04 million, a P/E ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 1.29.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $502.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.84 million. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 17.62% and a negative net margin of 9.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.39) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Mercer International will post -1.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MERC. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 17,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mercer International by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings 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 worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Mercer International by 505.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 49,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 41,315 shares during the period. 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.