Truist upgraded International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) to Buy from Hold, raising the price target to $43 from $30 per share in a note to clients on Thursday.
Analysts told investors that the containerboard market is "no longer boxed in," and they are constructive as the trough is "finally reached."
"We upgrade IP to Buy from Hold and increase our estimates and price targets for all containerboard producers as we believe that the containerboard market is reaching a positive inflection point and poised for recovery due to improving demand from the end of destocking and increasingly balanced inventories," wrote the analysts.
"While we acknowledge that new containerboard supply continues to be slowly absorbed into the market, persistent economic downtime and increasing demand should serve as offsets and pricing should continue to be stable," they added.
Truist's preferred stock to play in this recovery for the market is IP, which they believe has "greater operating leverage and more upside" to the firm's price target than peers such as WRK and PG.