HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Purchases 23,346 Shares of International Paper Company $IP

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 319.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,346 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in International Paper were worth $1,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IP. Gentry Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in International Paper by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in shares of International Paper by 2.9% in the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 7,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 3,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC grew its stake in International Paper by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 6,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in International Paper by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on IP. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.80 price target on International Paper and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded International Paper from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $55.00 price target on International Paper and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of International Paper from a “strong sell” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Paper news, SVP Clay R. Ellis sold 18,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.85, for a total value of $693,480.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

International Paper Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of International Paper stock opened at $39.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.04. International Paper Company has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $60.15. The firm has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a PE ratio of -15.12, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.40.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.96). The company had revenue of $6.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. International Paper had a negative return on equity of 0.16% and a negative net margin of 5.45%.The business’s revenue was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is -70.88%.

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.