Insider Buying: Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Director Buys 4,500 Shares of Stock

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis purchased 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.61 per share, for a total transaction of $106,245.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $613,340.58. This trade represents a 20.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Weyerhaeuser Trading Down 0.6%

Weyerhaeuser stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.58. The stock had a trading volume of 8,187,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,602,983. Weyerhaeuser Company has a twelve month low of $21.16 and a twelve month high of $31.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.39, a PEG ratio of 121.91 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.71.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 4.68%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 186.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WY shares. Zacks Research upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, CIBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.33.

Institutional Trading of Weyerhaeuser

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 2nd quarter worth $600,502,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 86.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,550,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $348,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,284,982 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 124.5% in the third quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 6,697,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $166,030,000 after purchasing an additional 3,713,932 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 2,952.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,130,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $91,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 39,646,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $982,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,343,724 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Company Profile

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.