Westpac Banking Corp Has $601,000 Stock Position in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in International Paper (NYSE:IP) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,598 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in International Paper were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in International Paper by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.4% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 87,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,116,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 19.8% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Outfitter Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 30,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on IP shares. Citigroup upgraded International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America upgraded shares of International Paper from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of International Paper from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Argus cut International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.57.

International Paper Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:IP traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $40.10. The company had a trading volume of 585,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,412,153. The company has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 81.08 and a beta of 1.01. International Paper has a one year low of $29.00 and a one year high of $41.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.06). The company 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%. International Paper’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that International Paper will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.61%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is 377.55%.

Insider Activity

In other International Paper news, SVP James P. Jr. Royalty sold 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total transaction of $201,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,708. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 9,400 shares of company stock worth $331,402 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About International Paper

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.