Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Sylvamo Corporation (NYSE:SLVM) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $44.85, but opened at $46.51. Sylvamo shares last traded at $45.5850, with a volume of 109,554 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Sylvamo from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Sylvamo to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sylvamo in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sylvamo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sylvamo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Sylvamo by 328.3% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sylvamo by 185.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sylvamo by 1,959.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Sylvamo during the first quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Sylvamo by 54.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.16% of the company’s stock.

Sylvamo Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.93. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 0.96.

Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.13). Sylvamo had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $840.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Sylvamo Corporation will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sylvamo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Sylvamo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.19%.

Sylvamo Company Profile

Sylvamo Corporation produces and markets uncoated freesheet for cutsize, offset paper, and pulp in Latin America, Europe, and North America. The company operates through Europe, Latin America, and North America segments. The Europe segment offers copy, tinted, and colored laser printing paper under REY Adagio and Pro-Design brands; and graphic and high-speed inkjet printing papers under the brand Jetstar; as well as produces uncoated freesheet papers.