International Paper (NYSE:IP) Director Kathryn D. Sullivan Sells 600 Shares

International Paper (NYSE:IP) Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $25,662.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,830,641.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

International Paper Stock Up 0.4 %

IP stock opened at $43.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 88.45 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.76 and its 200 day moving average is $38.40. International Paper has a one year low of $30.78 and a one year high of $47.40.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.56 billion. International Paper had a net margin of 0.93% and a return on equity of 7.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that International Paper will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 377.55%.

Institutional Trading of International Paper

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of International Paper by 35.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,135,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $824,716,000 after purchasing an additional 5,492,035 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of International Paper by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,030,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $471,065,000 after purchasing an additional 4,960,005 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of International Paper by 82.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,082,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755,441 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of International Paper in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,913,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of International Paper by 138.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 682,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,218,000 after purchasing an additional 396,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on IP shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of International Paper from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of International Paper from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Paper has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.71.

International Paper Company Profile

International Paper Company produces and sells renewable fiber-based packaging and pulp products in North America, Latin America, Europe, and North Africa. It operates through two segments, Industrial Packaging and Global Cellulose Fibers. The company offers linerboard, medium, whitetop, recycled linerboard, recycled medium and saturating kraft; and pulp for a range of applications, such as diapers, towel and tissue products, feminine care, incontinence, and other personal care products, as well as specialty pulps for use in textiles, construction materials, paints, coatings, and others.