National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 79,413 Shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP - Free Report) by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,434 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,413 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.07% of International Paper worth $12,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in International Paper by 88.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,839,237 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $871,447,000 after purchasing an additional 8,370,273 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in International Paper by 133.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,214,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $613,367,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132,332 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in International Paper by 125.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,235,846 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $206,921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,354,341 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,579,679 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $174,867,000 after purchasing an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,295,926 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $161,006,000 after buying an additional 537,825 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on IP. BNP Paribas cut International Paper from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $48.20 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on International Paper from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $61.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Argus raised shares of International Paper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.54.

International Paper Stock Performance

IP stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.53. 4,205,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,228,304. The company has a market capitalization of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.44 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. International Paper has a twelve month low of $32.70 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.81.

International Paper (NYSE:IP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.20. International Paper had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 2.25%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. International Paper's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Paper will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. International Paper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $28,848.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,872,475.60. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph R. Saab sold 2,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total transaction of $115,412.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,996.40. This represents a 11.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,040 shares of company stock worth $304,004. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

International Paper Profile

International Paper Company produces and sells renewable fiber-based packaging and pulp products in North America, Latin America, Europe, and North Africa. It operates through two segments, Industrial Packaging and Global Cellulose Fibers. The company offers linerboard, medium, whitetop, recycled linerboard, recycled medium and saturating kraft; and pulp for a range of applications, such as diapers, towel and tissue products, feminine care, incontinence, and other personal care products, as well as specialty pulps for use in textiles, construction materials, paints, coatings, and others.