Cambridge Financial Group Inc. Takes $6.55 Million Position in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP – Get Rating) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 141,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,000. International Paper accounts for about 2.9% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in International Paper in the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,782,000. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of International Paper by 196.0% during the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 4,995,325 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,534,000 after buying an additional 3,307,625 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Paper during the 4th quarter valued at about $97,949,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of International Paper by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,272,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $291,485,000 after buying an additional 1,118,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC bought a new position in International Paper in the 4th quarter worth about $36,208,000. 82.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on IP. Citigroup cut shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of International Paper from $41.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of International Paper from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Paper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Paper news, SVP William Thomas Hamic sold 3,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.72, for a total value of $173,223.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,226. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

International Paper Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of IP traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.79. 1,882,792 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,741,667. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.35. International Paper has a twelve month low of $40.21 and a twelve month high of $60.39. The stock has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

International Paper (NYSE:IP – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. International Paper had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 17.25%. International Paper’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that International Paper will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

About International Paper

(Get Rating)

International Paper Company operates as a packaging company primarily in United States, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Pacific Rim, Asia, and rest of the Americas. It operates through two segments: Industrial Packaging and Global Cellulose Fibers. The Industrial Packaging segment manufactures containerboards, including linerboard, medium, whitetop, recycled linerboard, recycled medium, and saturating kraft.