Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Sets New 1-Year High at $36.27

Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.27 and last traded at $36.12, with a volume of 133598 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, CIBC set a $37.00 price objective on Weyerhaeuser and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.71.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.36. The company has a market cap of $26.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41 and a beta of 1.43.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 10.93% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is 69.57%.

Insider Activity at Weyerhaeuser

In other news, Director Nicole Weyerhaeuser Piasecki sold 33,426 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.64, for a total value of $1,124,450.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,347.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director Nicole Weyerhaeuser Piasecki sold 33,426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.64, for a total value of $1,124,450.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,807 shares in the company, valued at $195,347.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David M. Wold sold 923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.57, for a total value of $31,908.11. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,655 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,843.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,273 shares of company stock worth $1,186,703 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter valued at $4,505,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter valued at about $264,000. Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in Weyerhaeuser by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 12,049 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 131.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 13,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slagle Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 101.7% during the 4th quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 114,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,973,000 after buying an additional 57,608 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. We own or control approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manage additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. We manage these timberlands on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards.