MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Increases Stake in International Paper (NYSE:IP)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 165,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,907 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in International Paper were worth $5,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IP. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 36,929,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,331,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,757 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,364,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,124,403,000 after buying an additional 218,754 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 9,835,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,550,000 after buying an additional 25,640 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 13.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,811,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $312,553,000 after buying an additional 1,011,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of International Paper by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,839,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $202,214,000 after buying an additional 413,320 shares during the last quarter. 81.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James P. Jr. Royalty sold 5,800 shares of International Paper 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 69,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,708. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,600 shares of company stock worth $264,418 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

International Paper Stock Performance

NYSE IP traded down $0.37 on Friday, reaching $39.02. 7,774,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,075,588. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 47.59 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. International Paper has a one year low of $29.00 and a one year high of $41.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.49.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. International Paper had a net margin of 1.52% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that International Paper will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. International Paper’s payout ratio is currently 225.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IP. Citigroup raised shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of International Paper in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Paper presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.13.

International Paper Company 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.