Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in International Paper Company $IP

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 353,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,480,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of International Paper at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in International Paper by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,413,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,498,013,000 after purchasing an additional 14,422,616 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of International Paper by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,535,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,148,154,000 after purchasing an additional 204,654 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Paper during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,940,896,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,009,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,182,083,000 after buying an additional 397,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of International Paper in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $689,498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of International Paper in a report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $51.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of International Paper from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.75.

International Paper Stock Down 3.4%

IP opened at $37.96 on Tuesday. International Paper Company has a 1-year low of $29.26 and a 1-year high of $50.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 0.94.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -28.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Holly G. Goughnour sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total value of $146,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 34,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,046.08. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William Thomas Hamic sold 24,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,406,422.40. This represents a 18.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About International Paper

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.