Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target to $5.00

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC - Get Free Report) TSE: MRI.U had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $7.00 to $5.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a "sector perform" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.86% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MERC. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Mercer International from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Mercer International from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Mercer International Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MERC traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.47. 493,974 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 389,085. The firm has a market cap of $298.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 2.39. Mercer International has a 1 year low of $4.35 and a 1 year high of $11.20. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $6.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.38.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC - Get Free Report) TSE: MRI.U last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.23. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 5.18% and a negative net margin of 4.17%. The business had revenue of $488.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $497.00 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Mercer International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mercer International by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 525,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,559,000 after buying an additional 8,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised 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 buying an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.