Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target Cut to $0.20 by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $0.75 to $0.20 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 2.04% from the stock’s previous close.

MERC has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on shares of Mercer International from $1.50 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. TD reduced their target price on Mercer International from $0.40 to $0.15 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Mercer International in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $1.02.

Mercer International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MERC traded down $0.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $0.20. 83,516 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,449,172. Mercer International has a 12-month low of $0.16 and a 12-month high of $2.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $0.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $0.72. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.03 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercer International

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MERC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Mercer International in the second quarter valued at about $798,000. Atlas FRM LLC acquired 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 in the second quarter valued at about $379,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 773.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 161,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 143,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Mercer International during the 2nd quarter worth about $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.