Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) Short Interest Down 22.1% in November

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 383,300 shares, a decline of 22.1% from the October 31st total of 492,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 612,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MERC. CIBC dropped their price objective on Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Mercer International in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mercer International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Richard George Short bought 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.70 per share, with a total value of $34,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,877.40. This trade represents a 13.22 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Wolfgang Beck purchased 18,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.02 per share, for a total transaction of $111,370.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 26,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,103.26. This trade represents a 238.31 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 41,300 shares of company stock valued at $252,650. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercer International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mercer International by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 525,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 8,957 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Mercer International by 505.8% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 49,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 41,315 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Mercer International by 22.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 6,786 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Mercer International during the 1st quarter valued at $193,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mercer International during the 3rd quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors own 85.79% of the company’s stock.

Mercer International Stock Performance

MERC opened at $6.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $415.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.19 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $6.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.41. Mercer International has a 1-year low of $5.33 and a 1-year high of $11.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $502.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.84 million. Mercer International had a negative net margin of 9.33% and a negative return on equity of 17.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mercer International will post -1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercer International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.60%.

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.