Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.00.

WY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James raised Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. CIBC raised Weyerhaeuser from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Weyerhaeuser stock opened at $29.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.72, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43. Weyerhaeuser has a twelve month low of $26.73 and a twelve month high of $36.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.74.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. Equities research analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is presently 152.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at $413,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 72,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 10,556 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,230,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 34,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 19,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,868,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.