Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,230 Shares of International Paper (NYSE:IP)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in International Paper (NYSE:IP) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in International Paper were worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Paper by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of International Paper by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of International Paper by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of International Paper by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of International Paper by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of International Paper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $48.20 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (down previously from $65.00) on shares of International Paper in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of International Paper in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kathryn D. Sullivan sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $33,714.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,120,891.55. This represents a 1.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

International Paper Stock Down 1.8 %

IP stock opened at $54.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.15. International Paper has a 12 month low of $33.16 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82 and a beta of 1.02.

International Paper (NYSE:IP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.05). International Paper had a return on equity of 4.75% and a net margin of 2.99%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that International Paper will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

International Paper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. International Paper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.84%.

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.