National Pension Service Decreases Stock Holdings in International Paper Company $IP

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 98.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 698,792 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in International Paper were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 44,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on International Paper from $44.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on International Paper from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on International Paper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research cut International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on International Paper from $51.80 to $50.70 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Paper presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.73.

Insider Transactions at International Paper

In other news, Director Anders Gustafsson acquired 13,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $37.83 per share, with a total value of $499,999.11. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 26,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $987,060.36. This trade represents a 102.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Scott Tozier acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $31.30 per share, for a total transaction of $313,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,782.50. This trade represents a 40,000.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 36,092 shares of company stock worth $1,313,064 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of IP stock opened at $33.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of -5.32 and a beta of 0.96. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $56.13.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. International Paper had a negative net margin of 13.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.4625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is currently -29.09%.

International Paper Profile

International Paper is a global producer of renewable fiber-based products, focused primarily on pulp, paper, and packaging. The company manufactures containerboard and corrugated packaging used for shipping and retail display, as well as a range of specialty papers and pulp products that serve industrial, consumer goods, and e-commerce customers. Its product portfolio is oriented toward large-scale packaging solutions, tissue and paper grades, and raw pulp for a variety of manufacturing uses.

Founded in 1898, International Paper is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and is one of the largest and longest-established companies in the forest products sector.