Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 18,318 Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 510,869 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,318 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Weyerhaeuser worth $14,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WY. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in Weyerhaeuser by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 38,928,176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,095,726,000 after acquiring an additional 14,213,243 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter valued at about $638,470,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,171,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $566,527,000 after buying an additional 637,643 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 14,362,306 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $404,299,000 after purchasing an additional 158,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,986,081 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $252,958,000 after purchasing an additional 245,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperformer" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weyerhaeuser has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.75.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

NYSE WY traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $26.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,540,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,747,606. Weyerhaeuser has a 12 month low of $24.10 and a 12 month high of $34.03. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.15. The company has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.15. 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 - Get Free Report) 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, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio is currently 168.00%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 8th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.