SPC Financial Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

SPC Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in International Paper were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in International Paper by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,839,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $871,447,000 after purchasing an additional 8,370,273 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of International Paper by 511.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,970,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $145,106,000 after buying an additional 2,484,386 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Paper by 125.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,235,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $206,921,000 after buying an additional 2,354,341 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,019,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $108,706,000 after buying an additional 1,202,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hill City Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of International Paper by 287.5% in the third quarter. Hill City Capital LP now owns 1,550,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,718,000 after buying an additional 1,150,000 shares during the period. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America began coverage on International Paper in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of International Paper in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas cut shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $48.20 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down from $65.00) on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.86.

International Paper Price Performance

NYSE IP opened at $52.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.20. International Paper has a 52-week low of $33.16 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The company has a market cap of $27.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.02.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.05). International Paper had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 4.75%. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Paper will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.4625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.83%.

International Paper Company Profile

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.