Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Position in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 141,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,876 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in International Paper were worth $6,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of International Paper by 15.1% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Paper in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,870,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Paper by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 937,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,788,000 after acquiring an additional 49,125 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in International Paper by 125.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,235,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $206,921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,354,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in International Paper by 29.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 321,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,704,000 after acquiring an additional 73,367 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IP. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on International Paper from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $57.00) on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $48.20 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.54.

International Paper Trading Up 1.3 %

International Paper stock opened at $55.58 on Friday. International Paper has a 52 week low of $32.70 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.50 and a beta of 1.02.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.20. International Paper had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that International Paper will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. International Paper’s payout ratio is currently 158.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of International Paper stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total transaction of $29,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,050.60. The trade was a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 3,600 shares of company stock valued at $188,592 in the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.