International Paper (NYSE:IP) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on IP. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of International Paper in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on International Paper from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded International Paper from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

International Paper Price Performance

Shares of IP opened at $39.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.80. International Paper has a 1-year low of $29.26 and a 1-year high of $50.25. The company has a market cap of $21.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.11 and a beta of 0.94.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.08. International Paper had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 1.09%. The business had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that International Paper will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -28.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Holly G. Goughnour sold 3,500 shares of International Paper stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total value of $146,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,046.08. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP William Thomas Hamic sold 24,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total transaction of $1,009,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 106,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,406,422.40. This represents a 18.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Paper

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IP. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in International Paper in the second quarter valued at about $1,940,896,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in International Paper by 3,696.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,244,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $847,512,000 after acquiring an additional 21,658,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of International Paper in the second quarter worth about $689,498,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of International Paper by 29.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 14,422,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Paper in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $374,904,000,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Company 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.