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

Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup cut their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James raised shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of WY stock opened at $30.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.42. Weyerhaeuser has a one year low of $26.73 and a one year high of $36.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.37 and its 200 day moving average is $30.78.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 3.86%. Sell-side analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 152.73%.

Institutional Trading of Weyerhaeuser

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter valued at $144,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 386,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,882,000 after purchasing an additional 27,497 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 151,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,251,000 after buying an additional 25,380 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently 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.