Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) CEO Purchases $51,480.00 in Stock

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) CEO Estrada Juan Carlos Bueno purchased 7,800 shares of Mercer International stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.60 per share, with a total value of $51,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,259. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Mercer International Stock Performance

MERC stock opened at $6.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.60. Mercer International Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.33 and a 12 month high of $11.20. The company has a market capitalization of $427.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.08). Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 17.93% and a negative net margin of 9.90%. The business had revenue of $499.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $482.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.48) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mercer International Inc. will post -1.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercer International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 25th. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio is -8.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MERC. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Mercer International during the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercer International in the first quarter worth $193,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercer International by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 10,713 shares during the period. 85.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. CIBC cut their price objective on Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Mercer International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mercer International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.38.

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.