Wiregrass Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in International Paper Company $IP

Wiregrass Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 15,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of International Paper by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,413,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,498,013,000 after buying an additional 14,422,616 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in International Paper by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,832,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $584,270,000 after purchasing an additional 6,663,986 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in International Paper in the fourth quarter valued at $250,093,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of International Paper by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,601,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $485,566,000 after purchasing an additional 5,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC increased its position in shares of International Paper by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas FRM LLC now owns 5,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,000 shares during the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of International Paper from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of International Paper from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of International Paper from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on International Paper from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Paper has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Paper news, Director Scott Tozier purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $31.30 per share, for a total transaction of $313,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,782.50. The trade was a 40,000.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

International Paper Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:IP opened at $36.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a PE ratio of -5.72 and a beta of 0.94. International Paper Company has a 1 year low of $29.26 and a 1 year high of $56.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.98.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. International Paper had a negative net margin of 13.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Analysts predict that International Paper Company will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is -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.