International Paper (NYSE:IP) Director Sells $22,668.00 in Stock

International Paper (NYSE:IP) Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.78, for a total transaction of $22,668.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,188 shares in the company, valued at $1,556,082.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

International Paper Price Performance

International Paper stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.35. 4,034,349 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,558,583. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.64 and its 200-day moving average is $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 44.84 and a beta of 0.99. International Paper has a 52 week low of $29.00 and a 52 week high of $41.28.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. International Paper had a net margin of 1.52% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. International Paper’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that International Paper will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on IP. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of International Paper from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of International Paper from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Argus lowered shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Paper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Paper

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 36,929,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,331,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,757 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,364,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,124,403,000 after purchasing an additional 218,754 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 61.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,030,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $471,065,000 after purchasing an additional 4,960,005 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 9,835,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,550,000 after purchasing an additional 25,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,847,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,844,000 after purchasing an additional 35,930 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

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.