How to buy International Paper Company stock | $46.54

International Paper Company is a packaging & containers business based in the US. International Paper Company shares (IP) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. International Paper Company employs 50,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$20.8 billion.

How to buy shares in International Paper Company

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for International Paper Company. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: IP. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until International Paper Company reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$46.54, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of International Paper Company, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of International Paper Company. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

International Paper Company share price

Use our graph to track the performance of IP stocks over time.

International Paper Company shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-12-27.

Latest market close	USD$46.54
52-week range	USD$25.5272 - USD$51.99
50-day moving average	USD$49.2203
200-day moving average	USD$41.2215
Wall St. target price	USD$50.7
PE ratio	39.8718
Dividend yield	USD$2.05 (4.12%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$1.248

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Is it a good time to buy International Paper Company stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of International Paper Company by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

International Paper Company price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $46.54 from 2020-10-16

1 week (2021-01-15)	-7.38%
1 month (2020-12-23)	-6.07%
3 months (2020-10-23)	0.30%
6 months (2020-07-23)	27.05%

1 year (2020-01-22)	4.56%
2 years (2019-01-22)	1.75%
3 years (2018-01-22)	63.46
5 years (2016-01-22)	27.68%

Is International Paper Company under- or over-valued?

Valuing International Paper Company stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of International Paper Company's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

International Paper Company's P/E ratio

International Paper Company's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 40x. In other words, International Paper Company shares trade at around 40x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

International Paper Company's PEG ratio

International Paper Company's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.63. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into International Paper Company's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

International Paper Company's EBITDA

International Paper Company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$3.2 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a International Paper Company's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

International Paper Company financials

Revenue TTM	USD$20.8 billion
Operating margin TTM	9.19%
Gross profit TTM	USD$7.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	3.65%
Return on equity TTM	6.8%
Profit margin	2.37%
Book value	$18.044
Market capitalisation	USD$19.6 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting International Paper Company shares

There are currently 8.4 million International Paper Company shares held short by investors – that's known as International Paper Company's "short interest". This figure is 17.8% down from 10.2 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting International Paper Company shares can be evaluated.

International Paper Company's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

International Paper Company's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of International Paper Company shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of International Paper Company shares traded daily (recently around 2.9 million). International Paper Company's SIR currently stands at 2.88. In other words for every 100,000 International Paper Company shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2880 shares are currently held short.

However International Paper Company's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of International Paper Company shares, or, against the total number of tradable International Paper Company shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case International Paper Company's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 International Paper Company shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0262% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable International Paper Company shares, roughly 26 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against International Paper Company.

Find out more about how you can short International Paper Company stock.

International Paper Company's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like International Paper Company.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

International Paper Company's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 21.48

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and International Paper Company's overall score of 21.48 (as at 01/01/2019) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 39th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like International Paper Company is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

International Paper Company's environmental score

Environmental score: 14.24/100

International Paper Company's social score

Social score: 0.67/100

International Paper Company's governance score

Governance score: 1.57/100

International Paper Company's controversy score

Controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. International Paper Company scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that International Paper Company hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

International Paper Company was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	21.48
Total ESG percentile	39.22
Environmental score	14.24
Social score	0.67
Governance score	1.57
Level of controversy	3

International Paper Company share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 65.29% of net profits

Recently International Paper Company has paid out, on average, around 65.29% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 4.12% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), International Paper Company shareholders could enjoy a 4.12% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In International Paper Company's case, that would currently equate to about $2.05 per share.

International Paper Company's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

International Paper Company's most recent dividend payout was on 15 December 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 13 November 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have International Paper Company's shares ever split?

International Paper Company's shares were split on a 1014:1000 basis on 2 July 2014. So if you had owned 1000 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 1014 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your International Paper Company shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 1.4% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for International Paper Company shares which in turn could have impacted International Paper Company's share price.

International Paper Company share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, International Paper Company's shares have ranged in value from as little as $25.5272 up to $51.99. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while International Paper Company's is 1.1223. This would suggest that International Paper Company's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

International Paper Company overview

International Paper Company operates as a paper and packaging company primarily in United States, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Pacific Rim, Asia, and the Americas. It operates through three segments: Industrial Packaging, Global Cellulose Fibers, and Printing Papers. The Industrial Packaging segment manufactures containerboards, including linerboard, medium, whitetop, recycled linerboard, recycled medium, and saturating Kraft. The Global Cellulose Fibers segment provides fluff, market, and specialty pulps that are used in absorbent hygiene products, such as baby diapers, feminine care, adult incontinence and other non-woven products; tissue and paper products; and non-absorbent end applications, including textiles, filtration, construction material, paints and coatings, reinforced plastics and more. The Printing Papers segment produces printing and writing papers, such as uncoated papers for end-use applications comprising brochures, pamphlets, greeting cards, books, annual reports, and direct mail, as well as envelopes, tablets, business forms, and file folders. It sells its uncoated papers under the Hammermill, Springhill, Williamsburg, Postmark, Accent, Great White, Chamex, Ballet, Rey, Pol, and Svetocopy brands. The company sells its products directly to end users and converters, as well as through agents, resellers, and paper distributors. International Paper Company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of International Paper Company is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.235% of International Paper Company shares are held by insiders and 85.249% by institutions.

• How many people work for International Paper Company?

  Latest data suggests 50,000 work at International Paper Company.

• When does the fiscal year end for International Paper Company?

  International Paper Company's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is International Paper Company based?

  International Paper Company's address is: 6400 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN, United States, 38197

• What is International Paper Company's ISIN number?

  International Paper Company's international securities identification number is: US4601461035

• What is International Paper Company's CUSIP number?

  International Paper Company's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 460146103