Analysts Set International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) PT at $43.73

International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.7250.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of International Paper from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of International Paper from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of International Paper from $51.80 to $50.70 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st.

International Paper Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of International Paper stock opened at $33.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 0.96. International Paper has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $56.13.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last announced 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). International Paper had a negative net margin of 13.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.49%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that International Paper will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -29.09%.

Insider Activity

In other International Paper news, Director Scott Tozier bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $31.30 per share, for a total transaction of $313,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $313,782.50. The trade was a 40,000.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anders Gustafsson bought 13,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $37.83 per share, with a total value of $499,999.11. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 26,092 shares in the company, valued at $987,060.36. This represents a 102.66% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 36,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,313,064 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Paper

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,357,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,535,058,000 after purchasing an additional 310,834 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of International Paper by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,413,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,498,013,000 after acquiring an additional 14,422,616 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of International Paper by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,535,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,148,154,000 after acquiring an additional 204,654 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of International Paper by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,009,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,182,083,000 after acquiring an additional 397,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $584,270,000 after acquiring an additional 6,663,986 shares during the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About International Paper

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.