Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $608,000 in International Paper Company $IP

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 15,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IP. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV acquired a new position in International Paper during the 2nd quarter valued at about $371,000. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in International Paper in the second quarter valued at about $51,395,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan acquired a new stake in International Paper in the second quarter worth about $7,689,000. Chapin Davis Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper during the second quarter worth about $270,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 180.1% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 350,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,368,000 after acquiring an additional 225,582 shares during the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IP shares. Loop Capital set a $61.00 price objective on shares of International Paper in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of International Paper from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of International Paper from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of International Paper from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

International Paper Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of IP stock opened at $37.96 on Tuesday. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $50.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.67.

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

International Paper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. International Paper’s payout ratio is presently -28.37%.

Insider Activity at International Paper

In related news, VP William Thomas Hamic sold 24,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total transaction of $1,009,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 106,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,422.40. This trade represents a 18.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Holly G. Goughnour sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total transaction of $146,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 34,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,046.08. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.