Clay Ellis Sells 18,819 Shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP) Stock

International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) SVP Clay Ellis sold 18,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.85, for a total transaction of $693,480.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

International Paper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IP traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.99. The company had a trading volume of 210,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,823,439. International Paper Company has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $60.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.69. The company has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.94, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.96). International Paper had a negative return on equity of 0.16% and a negative net margin of 5.45%.The company had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 56.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. International Paper’s payout ratio is -70.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Paper

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,047,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,971,784,000 after buying an additional 167,889 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of International Paper by 7.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,330,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,520,945,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768,772 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in International Paper by 8.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 51,798,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,763,426,000 after acquiring an additional 4,201,422 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in International Paper by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,990,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,272,966,000 after acquiring an additional 16,622,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in International Paper by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,612,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,374,000,000 after purchasing an additional 225,444 shares during the period. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IP. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of International Paper from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on International Paper from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research upgraded International Paper from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of International Paper in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.44.

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.