Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Price Target Cut to $5.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC - Get Free Report) TSE: MRI.U had its target price dropped by Royal Bank of Canada from $7.00 to $5.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA 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 14.81% from the stock's current price.

MERC has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Mercer International from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. CIBC lowered their target price on Mercer International from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Mercer International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MERC traded down $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.36. 182,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,935. The company has a market cap of $291.22 million, a PE ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 1.26. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.40. Mercer International has a 12-month low of $4.36 and a 12-month high of $11.20.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC - Get Free Report) TSE: MRI.U last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. On average, analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mercer International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 8,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Mercer International in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. 85.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.