Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 108,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,049,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WY. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,827,482 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,744,000 after buying an additional 230,581 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 30,556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 102,544 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the period. J. Goldman & Co LP bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter worth about $15,410,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 301.0% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 192,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,418,000 after buying an additional 144,479 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:WY opened at $26.48 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.08. Weyerhaeuser has a 12-month low of $24.10 and a 12-month high of $34.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.11. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. Weyerhaeuser’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to buy up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Weyerhaeuser Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is currently 168.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.75.

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.