Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.75.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cibc World Mkts raised Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WY opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Weyerhaeuser has a fifty-two week low of $24.10 and a fifty-two week high of $34.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a PE ratio of 48.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.14.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. Weyerhaeuser’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 168.00%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 8th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.