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

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%.

Mercer International has increased its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years. Mercer International has a payout ratio of 103.4% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. 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 Price Performance

Mercer International stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $6.58. The company had a trading volume of 414,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 233,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 3.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.00 million, a PE ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.29. Mercer International has a 1-year low of $5.33 and a 1-year high of $11.20.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.23. Mercer International had a negative net margin of 9.33% and a negative return on equity of 17.62%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercer International will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MERC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Mercer International in a report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Mercer International from $7.50 to $7.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.25.

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.