Mercer International (MERC) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) is set to release its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, May 9th. Persons interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.74) by ($0.06). Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 29.17% and a negative net margin of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $470.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $508.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Mercer International to post $0 EPS for the current fiscal year and $1 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Mercer International Price Performance

Shares of MERC opened at $10.82 on Tuesday. Mercer International has a fifty-two week low of $7.01 and a fifty-two week high of $10.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.20. The company has a market cap of $723.32 million, a P/E ratio of -2.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53.

Mercer International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 27th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 26th. Mercer International’s payout ratio is currently -8.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Mercer International to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC raised shares of Mercer International from a “sector underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $8.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.67.

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.