Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on International Paper (NYSE:IP)

International Paper (NYSE:IP) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 11,048 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 112% compared to the average daily volume of 5,203 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of International Paper in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upgraded International Paper from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered International Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 14th. Citigroup upgraded International Paper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of International Paper in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Paper presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.13.

Insider Transactions at International Paper

In related news, SVP James P. Jr. Royalty sold 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,414,708. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,800 shares of company stock valued at $310,438. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Paper

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IP. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in International Paper by 4.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 36,929,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,331,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,757 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in International Paper by 0.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,364,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,124,403,000 after purchasing an additional 218,754 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in International Paper by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,030,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $471,065,000 after purchasing an additional 4,960,005 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings in International Paper by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 9,835,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,550,000 after purchasing an additional 25,640 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in International Paper by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,847,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,844,000 after purchasing an additional 35,930 shares during the period. 81.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Paper Stock Performance

Shares of International Paper stock opened at $35.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of 43.14 and a beta of 0.99. International Paper has a 52 week low of $29.00 and a 52 week high of $41.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.83. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.67 billion. International Paper had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 1.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that International Paper will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.