AIA Group Ltd Sells 373,378 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd has reduced its holdings in Weyerhaeuser Company by 30%, now owning approximately $25.46 million worth of shares in the real estate investment trust.
• Several institutional investors adjusted their positions, with Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its stake by 0.3% and Cohen & Steers Inc. boosting its position by 57.5%.
• Weyerhaeuser announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a 3.3% yield, while also approving a stock buyback program worth $1 billion.

AIA Group Ltd lowered its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 30.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869,563 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 373,378 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd owned 0.12% of Weyerhaeuser worth $25,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 101,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 7,853 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter valued at $26,206,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 42,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 329,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 151,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 15,415 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis acquired 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.29 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,478 shares in the company, valued at $543,178.62. This trade represents a 22.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.88.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WY traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,369,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,737,939. The company's 50 day moving average price is $26.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.50, a P/E/G ratio of 74.23 and a beta of 1.08. Weyerhaeuser Company has a 52-week low of $24.10 and a 52-week high of $34.03.

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

Weyerhaeuser announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio is 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser Company 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.