Legal & General Group Plc Sells 469,982 Shares of International Paper Company $IP

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,721,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 469,982 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in International Paper were worth $107,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in International Paper by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,357,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,535,058,000 after purchasing an additional 310,834 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in 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 worth $2,520,945,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768,772 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in International Paper by 51.4% in the third 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in International Paper by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,612,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,374,000,000 after acquiring an additional 225,444 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in International Paper by 11.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,121,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $423,222,000 after acquiring an additional 960,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on IP shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of International Paper from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of International Paper from $44.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners upgraded International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on International Paper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, International Paper presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Paper

In related news, Director Scott Tozier acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.30 per share, with a total value of $313,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,782.50. This trade represents a 40,000.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anders Gustafsson acquired 13,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.83 per share, for a total transaction of $499,999.11. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 26,092 shares in the company, valued at $987,060.36. This represents a 102.66% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 36,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,313,064 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

International Paper Stock Up 2.8%

IP stock opened at $33.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 0.93. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $56.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.95 and a 200-day moving average of $38.56.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. International Paper had a negative return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 13.42%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Paper Company will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is presently -29.09%.

International Paper 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.