Insider Buying: Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) Director Purchases 5,000 Shares of Stock

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) Director Rainer Rettig bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.24 per share, for a total transaction of $31,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,969.12. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Rainer Rettig also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, September 11th, Rainer Rettig purchased 4,000 shares of Mercer International stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.10 per share, for a total transaction of $24,400.00.

Mercer International Price Performance

Shares of MERC opened at $6.13 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $6.97 and its 200-day moving average is $8.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.91 million, a PE ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 1.34. Mercer International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.33 and a fifty-two week high of $11.20.

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

Mercer International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 25th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. Mercer International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.