Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 242,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,428 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $6,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at $1,214,000. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 51,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after buying an additional 18,698 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 157,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 9,377 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 148.2% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 125,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,253,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 729,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,777,000 after acquiring an additional 67,314 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

NYSE WY opened at $30.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.78. 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 1 year low of $26.73 and a 1 year high of $36.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 54.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.42.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. Analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WY. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of 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 shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

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.