Bellwether Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in International Paper Company $IP

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors disclosed a new first-quarter stake in International Paper, buying 73,236 shares worth about $2.6 million.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on IP: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $44.31, while recent actions included upgrades from RBC, Truist, and Seaport.
• International Paper reported Q1 earnings of $0.15 per share, missing estimates, but revenue rose 13.4% year over year; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4625 per share, yielding about 5.1%.

Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 73,236 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,615,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Paper by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,357,913 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,535,058,000 after purchasing an additional 310,834 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in International Paper by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,413,335 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,498,013,000 after buying an additional 14,422,616 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 204,654 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in International Paper by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,009,733 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,182,083,000 after buying an additional 397,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in International Paper by 81.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,832,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $584,270,000 after buying an additional 6,663,986 shares in the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on IP. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of International Paper from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on International Paper from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on International Paper from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seaport Research Partners raised International Paper from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $39.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on International Paper in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Paper has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Paper news, Director Scott Tozier purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.30 per share, with a total value of $313,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $313,782.50. This represents a 40,000.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Paper Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE IP opened at $36.36 on Wednesday. International Paper Company has a 52 week low of $29.26 and a 52 week high of $56.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a PE ratio of -5.72 and a beta of 0.94.

International Paper (NYSE:IP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. International Paper had a negative net margin of 13.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.49%. International Paper's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.4625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. International Paper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -29.09%.

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.

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