Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 443,555 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company $WY

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Weyerhaeuser Company by 65.4%, selling 443,555 shares, and now owns 234,333 shares worth approximately $6.86 million.
• Weyerhaeuser recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.4%, despite having a high payout ratio of 221.05%.
• Analyst ratings for Weyerhaeuser are mixed, with price targets lowered by several firms, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.88.

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 65.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,333 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 443,555 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $6,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WY. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 18,197 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 10,036 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,398,286 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,362,000 after purchasing an additional 118,938 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,543,638 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,453,000 after purchasing an additional 75,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 70,319 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,810 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WY has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weyerhaeuser has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.88.

Insider Activity at Weyerhaeuser

In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.29 per share, for a total transaction of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 21,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,178.62. This trade represents a 22.89% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

WY stock opened at $24.81 on Thursday. 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 $25.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 79.23 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued 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 3.4%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio is presently 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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