GW&K Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in International Paper Company $IP

GW&K Investment Management LLC lessened its position in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 599,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 56,800 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in International Paper were worth $23,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of International Paper by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,357,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,535,058,000 after buying an additional 310,834 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of International Paper by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,413,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,498,013,000 after buying an additional 14,422,616 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of International Paper by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,535,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,148,154,000 after buying an additional 204,654 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of International Paper by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,612,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,374,000,000 after buying an additional 225,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of International Paper by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,832,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $584,270,000 after buying an additional 6,663,986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Tozier purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $31.30 per share, with a total value of $313,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,782.50. This trade represents a 40,000.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Stock Performance

Shares of IP stock opened at $31.80 on Thursday. International Paper Company has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $56.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 0.96.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). International Paper had a negative return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 13.42%.The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that International Paper Company will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is -29.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IP. Zacks Research lowered shares of International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of International Paper from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of International Paper from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of International Paper from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.73.

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.