Front Street Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 695,215 International Paper Company $IP

Front Street Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 695,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,488,000. International Paper accounts for about 3.0% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IP. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in International Paper by 144.2% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 258,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,199,000 after buying an additional 152,907 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of International Paper by 29.6% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 137,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,518 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper during the 1st quarter worth about $2,615,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of International Paper during the 4th quarter valued at about $250,093,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of International Paper by 81.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,832,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $584,270,000 after acquiring an additional 6,663,986 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of IP stock opened at $41.03 on Tuesday. International Paper Company has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $50.25. 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 fifty day moving average is $39.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.29 and a beta of 0.94.

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

International Paper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors 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 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on International Paper from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Loop Capital set a $61.00 price objective on International Paper in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded International Paper from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Nine 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

Insider Transactions at International Paper

In other International Paper news, CAO Holly G. Goughnour sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total value of $146,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,046.08. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP William Thomas Hamic sold 24,500 shares of the business’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 value of $1,009,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 106,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,422.40. This represents a 18.64% 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 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.