Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Acquires 3,444 Shares of International Paper Company $IP

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in shares of International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in International Paper were worth $3,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Paper by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,623,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,340,966,000 after purchasing an additional 21,428,455 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in International Paper by 8.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 51,798,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,763,426,000 after buying an additional 4,201,422 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Paper by 230.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,965,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $211,543,000 after buying an additional 2,763,634 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Paper during the first quarter worth $132,900,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 78.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,860,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,310,000 after buying an additional 2,143,027 shares in the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Paper Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of IP stock opened at $37.34 on Monday. International Paper Company has a 1-year low of $35.79 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $19.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -373.40, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.48 and a 200-day moving average of $47.10.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.96). The company had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. International Paper had a positive return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.International Paper’s revenue was up 56.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Paper Company will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is currently -70.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on IP shares. Bank of America raised International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, August 28th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on International Paper from $42.10 to $40.40 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on International Paper from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of International Paper in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Paper

In related news, SVP Joseph R. Saab sold 9,000 shares of International Paper stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.53, for a total transaction of $409,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,259,951.69. This trade represents a 24.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.