Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 12.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,755,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,210,694,000 after buying an additional 4,035,048 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,407,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,063,463,000 after acquiring an additional 761,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Weyerhaeuser by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,534,058 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $659,422,000 after purchasing an additional 217,510 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,852,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $247,793,000 after purchasing an additional 249,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,740,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $295,940,000 after purchasing an additional 454,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

NYSE:WY opened at $30.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.54, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79. Weyerhaeuser has a fifty-two week low of $26.73 and a fifty-two week high of $36.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.80.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 3.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 145.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WY has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Cibc World Mkts raised Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Weyerhaeuser currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

Weyerhaeuser 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.