Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Buys 268,526 Shares of International Paper Company $IP

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 175.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 421,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 268,526 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in International Paper were worth $16,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,357,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,535,058,000 after purchasing an additional 310,834 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,330,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,520,945,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768,772 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,990,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,272,966,000 after purchasing an additional 16,622,062 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,612,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,374,000,000 after purchasing an additional 225,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,121,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $423,222,000 after purchasing an additional 960,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on IP shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on International Paper from $44.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised International Paper from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on International Paper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seaport Research Partners raised International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on International Paper from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Tozier purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.30 per share, for a total transaction of $313,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 10,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,782.50. This represents a 40,000.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Anders Gustafsson purchased 13,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $37.83 per share, for a total transaction of $499,999.11. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 26,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,060.36. The trade was a 102.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 36,092 shares of company stock worth $1,313,064. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Stock Performance

IP stock opened at $32.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.11 and a beta of 0.93. International Paper Company has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $56.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.53.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. International Paper had a negative return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 13.42%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Paper Company will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Company Profile

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.