Clearline Capital LP Raises Stock Holdings in International Paper Company $IP

Clearline Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 101.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 302,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,275 shares during the period. Clearline Capital LP’s holdings in International Paper were worth $11,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in International Paper by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in International Paper by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in International Paper by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in International Paper by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in International Paper by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Stock Performance

Shares of IP stock opened at $36.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $56.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.22. The company has a market capitalization of $19.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.68 and a beta of 0.96.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. International Paper had a negative net margin of 13.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.49%. International Paper’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. Analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is currently -29.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IP. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on International Paper from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on International Paper from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on International Paper from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.73.

Insider Activity at International Paper

In other International Paper news, Director Scott Tozier bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.30 per share, for a total transaction of $313,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,025 shares in the company, valued at $313,782.50. The trade was a 40,000.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Paper 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.