Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Hits New 52-Week High at $36.27

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut Weyerhaeuser from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, CIBC set a $37.00 price target on Weyerhaeuser and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nicole Weyerhaeuser Piasecki sold 33,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.64, for a total transaction of $1,124,450.64. Following the sale, 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 available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the director now owns 5,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,347.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David M. Wold sold 923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.57, for a total transaction of $31,908.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,096,843.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,273 shares of company stock worth $1,186,703. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate 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 increased its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 149,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,568,000 after buying an additional 8,031 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 18.3% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 65,808 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter valued at $36,237,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 21.3% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 96,900 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is 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.