State of Michigan Retirement System Buys 1,800 Shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP)

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in International Paper (NYSE:IP) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in International Paper were worth $4,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,135,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $824,716,000 after acquiring an additional 5,492,035 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in International Paper by 133.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,214,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $613,367,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132,332 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in International Paper by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,030,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $471,065,000 after buying an additional 4,960,005 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 0.4% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 35,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of International Paper in the fourth quarter worth about $94,913,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IP. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on International Paper in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $48.70 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of International Paper from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on International Paper from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Paper

In other news, Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total transaction of $27,066.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,864.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 3,600 shares of company stock worth $161,100 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

International Paper Stock Performance

International Paper stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.72. The company had a trading volume of 139,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,595,265. International Paper has a 52 week low of $31.76 and a 52 week high of $49.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.31 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.14. International Paper had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Paper will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. International Paper’s payout ratio is 377.55%.

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.