Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Royal Bank Of Canada

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank Of Canada from $0.75 to $0.20 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MERC. Wall Street Zen raised Mercer International from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Mercer International in a research report on Monday, September 21st. TD decreased their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $0.40 to $0.15 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $1.50 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mercer International has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $1.02.

Mercer International Price Performance

NASDAQ MERC opened at $0.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $0.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $0.71. Mercer International has a one year low of $0.16 and a one year high of $2.85. The firm has a market cap of $12.73 million, a PE ratio of -0.02 and a beta of 0.55.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported ($1.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $460.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.00 million. Mercer International had a negative net margin of 27.86% and a negative return on equity of 352.57%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mercer International will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Mercer International in the 2nd quarter valued at $798,000. Atlas FRM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the second quarter worth $393,882. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the second quarter worth $379,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Mercer International by 773.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 161,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 143,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercer International during the second quarter worth $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.79% of the company’s stock.

Mercer International Company Profile

Mercer International Inc is a global producer of market pulp, a key raw material used to manufacture tissue, printing and writing paper, specialty papers, and other fiber-based products. The company primarily produces northern bleached softwood kraft pulp and northern bleached hardwood kraft pulp, which it sells to customers in the paper, tissue, and specialty-products industries.

Mercer operates pulp mills in Germany and Canada, including facilities in Rosenthal and Stendal, Germany, and Celgar in British Columbia and Peace River in Alberta.