Empirical Asset Management LLC Takes $265,000 Position in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in International Paper (NYSE:IP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in International Paper during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in International Paper during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in International Paper by 2,281.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 786 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of International Paper by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of International Paper by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IP shares. Citigroup raised shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of International Paper from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised shares of International Paper from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP James P. Jr. Royalty sold 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total transaction of $201,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,708. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 7,600 shares of company stock worth $264,418 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IP traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.53. 2,629,871 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,099,210. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.21 and a beta of 0.98. International Paper has a 1 year low of $29.00 and a 1 year high of $40.34.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. International Paper had a net margin of 1.52% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that International Paper will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.4625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 225.61%.

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.