Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) hit a new 52-week low on Monday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $21.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Weyerhaeuser traded as low as $18.31 and last traded at $18.3380, with a volume of 378759 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.47.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WY. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Essential Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 120,800.0% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 174.7% in the second quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.65. The company has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 1.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is 129.23%.

Weyerhaeuser Company Profile

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) is one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands and a major producer of forest products. The company owns and manages timberlands in the United States and operates manufacturing facilities in the United States and Canada, serving residential, commercial and industrial markets.

Its principal products include lumber, structural panels, engineered wood products and other materials used in homebuilding and construction. Weyerhaeuser also manages its timberlands for sustainable wood production and generates revenue from real estate, energy and natural-resource activities associated with those properties.

Founded in 1900, Weyerhaeuser has developed from a regional timber company into an integrated forest-products business.