United Asset Strategies Inc. Invests $214,000 in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

United Asset Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 11,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter worth about $1,843,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter worth about $1,533,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 12,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 24,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Weyerhaeuser stock opened at $31.52 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.66. Weyerhaeuser has a 1-year low of $28.12 and a 1-year high of $36.27. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41 and a beta of 1.43.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during 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 for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Keith O’rear sold 8,349 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total transaction of $300,814.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 170,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,149,059.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Weyerhaeuser 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 value of $1,124,450.64. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Keith O’rear sold 8,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total transaction of $300,814.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 170,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,149,059.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,699 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,609. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WY. CIBC set a $37.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Weyerhaeuser currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

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.