Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) Stock Price

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) had its price objective cut by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $0.75 to $0.20 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 2.04% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MERC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Mercer International in a report on Monday, September 21st. TD decreased their price target on shares of Mercer International from $0.40 to $0.15 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price objective on Mercer International from $1.50 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mercer International currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $1.02.

Mercer International Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:MERC traded down $0.00 on Friday, hitting $0.20. The stock had a trading volume of 83,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,172. The business’s fifty day moving average is $0.36 and its 200 day moving average is $0.72. Mercer International has a 52 week low of $0.16 and a 52 week high of $2.85. The company has a market cap of $13.14 million, a PE ratio of -0.03 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercer International

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MERC. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in 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. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Mercer International in the second quarter valued at $67,000. Atlas FRM LLC purchased a new stake in Mercer International during the second quarter worth about $393,882. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercer International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $798,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Mercer International in the second quarter valued at $379,000. 85.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mercer International

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.