Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Makes New Investment in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of International Paper by 88.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,839,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,447,000 after buying an additional 8,370,273 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of International Paper by 511.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,970,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $145,106,000 after buying an additional 2,484,386 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $206,921,000 after buying an additional 2,354,341 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper during the third quarter worth approximately $84,526,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of International Paper by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,019,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $108,706,000 after buying an additional 1,202,632 shares during the period. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IP. Bank of America began coverage on shares of International Paper in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $48.20 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $65.00) on shares of International Paper in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Paper has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $35,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 37,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,896.55. This represents a 1.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Stock Performance

Shares of IP opened at $55.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.02. International Paper has a 52-week low of $33.16 and a 52-week high of $60.36.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.05). International Paper had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 4.75%. Research analysts predict that International Paper will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. International Paper’s payout ratio is currently 117.83%.

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.