Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes Position in International Paper Company $IP

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in International Paper by 452.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in International Paper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in International Paper during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of International Paper during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC grew its position in International Paper by 115.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 5,875 shares during the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised International Paper from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on International Paper from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of International Paper from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded International Paper from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

International Paper Price Performance

NYSE IP opened at $39.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.84. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $50.25. The firm has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.03 and a beta of 0.94.

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

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. International Paper’s payout ratio is currently -28.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.