Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Trims Position in International Paper Company $IP

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. significantly reduced its stake in International Paper Company by 72.2%, selling 15,600 shares, and now owns 5,994 shares valued at $320,000.
• International Paper's latest earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $0.20, missing analysts' estimates of $0.38, yet the company's revenue increased by 42.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4625 per share with a yield of 3.8%, despite having a highly unusual dividend payout ratio of -1,850.00%.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its position in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP - Free Report) by 72.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,994 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,600 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in International Paper were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in IP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of International Paper by 52.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,623,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,340,966,000 after purchasing an additional 21,428,455 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of International Paper by 8.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 51,798,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,763,426,000 after purchasing an additional 4,201,422 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in International Paper by 19.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,145,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $914,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782,042 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in International Paper by 230.0% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,965,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $211,543,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763,634 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in International Paper in the first quarter worth approximately $132,900,000. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IP. UBS Group began coverage on International Paper in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded International Paper from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded International Paper from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial set a $59.00 price target on International Paper in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut International Paper from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Paper has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.65.

International Paper Price Performance

NYSE:IP traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $47.00. 685,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,258,593. The firm's 50-day moving average is $49.73 and its 200-day moving average is $49.17. The stock has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -470.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.96. International Paper Company has a 1-year low of $43.27 and a 1-year high of $60.36.

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

International Paper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. International Paper's dividend payout ratio is -1,850.00%.

International Paper Company 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.