Mercer International Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NASDAQ:MERC)

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.075 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 26th.

Mercer International has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years. Mercer International has a dividend payout ratio of 103.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Mercer International to earn ($0.29) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -103.4%.

Mercer International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MERC opened at $7.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 3.79. Mercer International has a 52-week low of $5.33 and a 52-week high of $11.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.23 million, a PE ratio of -2.72 and a beta of 1.29.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.23. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 17.62% and a negative net margin of 9.33%. The company had revenue of $488.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.00 million. Analysts forecast that Mercer International will post -1.44 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Mercer International in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James cut their price target on Mercer International from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.25.

Mercer International Company Profile

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.