Raymond James Lowers Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target to $7.00

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its target price dropped by Raymond James from $7.50 to $7.00 in a report released on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. Raymond James’ price target indicates a potential upside of 8.61% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Mercer International in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.25.

Mercer International Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ MERC traded down $0.01 on Tuesday, hitting $6.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 121,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 258,501. The company has a current ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. Mercer International has a 52-week low of $5.33 and a 52-week high of $11.20. The firm has a market cap of $430.98 million, a P/E ratio of -2.28 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.66.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercer International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MERC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 8,957 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Mercer International by 505.8% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 49,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 41,315 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Mercer International during the 3rd quarter worth $75,000. 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.