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

Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.75.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WY shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC lowered their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

Shares of WY opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. Weyerhaeuser has a 12 month low of $24.10 and a 12 month high of $34.03. The company has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.46, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.14. 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 (NYSE:WY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 168.00%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to buy up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WY. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 9.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,754,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,406,000 after acquiring an additional 153,919 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 157,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 9,377 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 82.2% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

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.