Nuveen LLC Buys Shares of 3,665,629 Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 3,665,629 shares of Weyerhaeuser Company, representing approximately $107.33 million, during the first quarter.
• Analysts have adjusted target prices for Weyerhaeuser shares, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.88.
• Weyerhaeuser recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share and initiated a share buyback plan worth $1 billion.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,665,629 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $107,330,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.51% of Weyerhaeuser as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the first quarter worth $31,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the first quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WY shares. CIBC dropped 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Weyerhaeuser from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Weyerhaeuser has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.88.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of WY traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $26.31. The company had a trading volume of 3,300,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,671,673. The company has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of 69.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 76.52 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Weyerhaeuser Company has a one year low of $24.10 and a one year high of $34.03. The company's fifty day moving average price is $26.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.26.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.02. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio is presently 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Weyerhaeuser

In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.29 per share, for a total transaction of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,178.62. This trade represents a 22.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.