Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Reaches New 12-Month High at $36.27

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.27 and last traded at $36.12, with a volume of 133598 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WY shares. CIBC set a $37.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.71.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Up 0.2 %

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

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. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 10.93% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Weyerhaeuser’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.57%.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $1,124,450.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,347.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Nicole Weyerhaeuser Piasecki sold 33,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.64, for a total transaction of $1,124,450.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,347.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David M. Wold sold 924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $30,344.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,991,910.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,273 shares of company stock valued at $1,186,703 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weyerhaeuser

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WY. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 15.3% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 5.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 149,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,568,000 after purchasing an additional 8,031 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 425,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,057,000 after buying an additional 65,808 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter worth $36,237,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 551,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,899,000 after buying an additional 96,900 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Company Profile

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.