Short Interest in Sylvamo Co. (NYSE:SLVM) Rises By 42.3%

Sylvamo Co. (NYSE:SLVM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 897,400 shares, a growth of 42.3% from the February 13th total of 630,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 344,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Sylvamo Trading Up 2.8 %

Sylvamo stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.15. Sylvamo has a fifty-two week low of $56.20 and a fifty-two week high of $98.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.10. Sylvamo had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 34.72%. Equities research analysts forecast that Sylvamo will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sylvamo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. Sylvamo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeanmichel Ribieras sold 21,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $1,392,512.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,035,526.32. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sylvamo

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sylvamo during the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Sylvamo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Sylvamo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL grew its holdings in Sylvamo by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 9,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Sylvamo in the 3rd quarter worth about $760,000. Institutional investors own 91.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SLVM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Sylvamo from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Sylvamo in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Sylvamo Company Profile

Sylvamo Corporation produces and markets uncoated freesheet for cutsize, offset paper, and pulp in Latin America, Europe, and North America. The company operates through Europe, Latin America, and North America segments. The Europe segment offers copy, tinted, and colored laser printing paper under REY Adagio and Pro-Design brands; and graphic and high-speed inkjet printing papers under the brand Jetstar; as well as produces uncoated freesheet papers.