Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in International Paper Company $IP

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 85,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,253,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $24,640,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in International Paper by 144.2% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 258,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,199,000 after purchasing an additional 152,907 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in International Paper by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 137,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,518 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in International Paper during the 1st quarter valued at $2,615,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper in the fourth quarter valued at $250,093,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE IP opened at $39.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. International Paper Company has a 1-year low of $29.26 and a 1-year high of $50.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.74. The company has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a PE ratio of -6.03 and a beta of 0.94.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Paper Company will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -28.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on IP. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of International Paper in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised International Paper from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Loop Capital set a $61.00 price objective on International Paper in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on International Paper from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP William Thomas Hamic sold 24,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $1,009,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 106,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,422.40. This represents a 18.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Holly G. Goughnour sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,046.08. The trade was a 9.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.