Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. Makes New $10.84 Million Investment in International Paper Company $IP

Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 284,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,836,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of IP. Capital International Investors lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 14,422,616 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,535,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,148,154,000 after purchasing an additional 204,654 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of International Paper during the second quarter worth about $1,940,896,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of International Paper by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,009,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,182,083,000 after purchasing an additional 397,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper in the 2nd quarter valued at about $689,498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at International Paper

In other news, VP William Thomas Hamic sold 24,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total transaction of $1,009,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 106,952 shares in the company, valued at $4,406,422.40. This represents a 18.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Holly G. Goughnour sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total value of $146,860.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,046.08. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IP. Wall Street Zen cut International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of International Paper in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on International Paper from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of International Paper from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.75.

International Paper Stock Performance

NYSE IP opened at $37.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 0.94. International Paper Company has a 52-week low of $29.26 and a 52-week high of $50.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.08. International Paper had a negative return on equity of 1.09% and a negative net margin of 14.20%.The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that International Paper Company will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.4625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. International Paper’s payout ratio is presently -28.37%.

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.