In the latest trading session, International Paper (IP) closed at $46.18, marking a +0.79% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.22%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.49%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.15%.
Heading into today, shares of the global paper and packaging company had gained 8.94% over the past month, outpacing the Basic Materials sector's loss of 1.6% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.57% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from IP as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 7, 2019. In that report, analysts expect IP to post earnings of $1.63 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 28.35%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.86 billion, up 2.6% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.31 per share and revenue of $23.22 billion. These totals would mark changes of +52.15% and +1.35%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for IP should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 3.5% higher. IP is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, IP is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 8.63. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.12.
Meanwhile, IP's PEG ratio is currently 0.91. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. IP's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.68 as of yesterday's close.
The Paper and Related Products industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 169, putting it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
International Paper Company (NYSE:IP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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