Truist Financial Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for International Paper (NYSE:IP)

International Paper (NYSE:IP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Truist Financial in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.35% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup raised shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of International Paper from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.13.

International Paper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IP traded down $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,957,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,611,345. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.84. International Paper has a fifty-two week low of $29.00 and a fifty-two week high of $41.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.05 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that International Paper will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Paper

In other International Paper news, SVP James P. Jr. Royalty sold 5,800 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,708. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 8,800 shares of company stock worth $310,438 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IP. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of International Paper by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 51,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of International Paper by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in International Paper by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 41,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

About International Paper

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.