Hill City Capital LP Boosts Position in International Paper Company $IP

Key Points

• Hill City Capital LP increased its stake in International Paper Company by 16.1%, now owning 1.8 million shares valued at approximately $96 million.
• International Paper reported a quarterly loss with an EPS of $0.20, missing expectations of $0.38, despite a revenue increase of 42.9% year-over-year to $6.77 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4625 per share, with a payout ratio currently at -1,850.00%, highlighting financial challenges.

Hill City Capital LP boosted its position in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP - Free Report) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,800,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the quarter. International Paper makes up about 7.1% of Hill City Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Hill City Capital LP owned about 0.34% of International Paper worth $96,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IP. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in International Paper by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 23,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,254,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 20.6% in the first quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 36,356 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 6,199 shares during the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 54.4% in the first quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 127,012 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,776,000 after acquiring an additional 44,759 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP increased its position in International Paper by 7.9% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 4,112 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its stake in International Paper by 294.3% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 462,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,677,000 after purchasing an additional 345,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IP. Wall Street Zen raised shares of International Paper from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of International Paper from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Truist Financial set a $59.00 target price on International Paper in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of International Paper in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded International Paper from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.65.

International Paper Price Performance

Shares of International Paper stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $48.98. 3,211,767 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,879,371. The company has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -489.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.04. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $43.27 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.62.

International Paper (NYSE:IP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. International Paper had a positive return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 42.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that International Paper Company will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. International Paper's payout ratio is -1,850.00%.

International Paper Profile

International Paper Company produces and sells renewable fiber-based packaging and pulp products in North America, Latin America, Europe, and North Africa. It operates through two segments, Industrial Packaging and Global Cellulose Fibers. The company offers linerboard, medium, whitetop, recycled linerboard, recycled medium and saturating kraft; and pulp for a range of applications, such as diapers, towel and tissue products, feminine care, incontinence, and other personal care products, as well as specialty pulps for use in textiles, construction materials, paints, coatings, and others.