Legal & General Group Plc Raises Position in Weyerhaeuser Company $WY

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,382,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 511,657 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $282,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 401.3% in the third quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 69.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

WY stock opened at $23.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.64 and a 200-day moving average of $24.39. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Weyerhaeuser Company has a 12-month low of $21.16 and a 12-month high of $30.28.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 1.50% and a net margin of 4.69%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is 190.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Weyerhaeuser from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.88.

Insider Transactions at Weyerhaeuser

In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director James Calvin O’rourke acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.35 per share, for a total transaction of $101,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $726,556.35. This represents a 16.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard Beckwitt acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.70 per share, for a total transaction of $514,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 24,066 shares in the company, valued at $618,496.20. The trade was a 491.88% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 28,500 shares of company stock worth $721,645 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) is a leading integrated forest products company whose core businesses are timberland ownership and forest products manufacturing. The company owns and manages large tracts of timberland and harvests, processes and sells wood and wood-derived products used primarily in residential and industrial construction. Its manufacturing operations produce a range of building materials, including lumber, engineered wood products and wood panels, alongside fiber-based products that serve multiple commercial applications.

Founded in 1900 by Frederick Weyerhaeuser and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company has a long history in the North American forest products industry.