Strong Tower Advisory Services Raises Stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 5.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,031 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 425,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,057,000 after acquiring an additional 65,808 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter worth $36,237,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 21.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 96,900 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of WY opened at $35.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.39. Weyerhaeuser has a 12-month low of $28.12 and a 12-month high of $36.27.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 1.03 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 2.23%. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

Insider Transactions at Weyerhaeuser

In other news, CFO David M. Wold sold 924 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction 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 $1,991,910.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO David M. Wold sold 924 shares of the business’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 $1,991,910.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Keith O’rear sold 8,349 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 170,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,149,059.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,622 shares of company stock worth $1,487,517 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, CIBC set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.71.

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.