International Paper (NYSE:IP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP – Get Rating) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.31.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of International Paper from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 28th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 28th. Bank of America lowered shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of International Paper from $47.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, April 18th.

In other International Paper news, SVP William Thomas Hamic sold 3,630 shares of International Paper stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.72, for a total transaction of $173,223.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,052,226. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Paper Co /New/ International sold 4,132,000 shares of International Paper stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total transaction of $143,587,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,614,358 shares in the company, valued at $160,348,940.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. James Reed Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in International Paper during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in International Paper during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Bivin & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in International Paper during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 527.0% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. 82.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of NYSE:IP opened at $47.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.72 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.91. International Paper has a twelve month low of $40.45 and a twelve month high of $65.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.78.

International Paper (NYSE:IP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.24. International Paper had a net margin of 8.14% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that International Paper will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 26th. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.93%.

International Paper Company Profile (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.

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