Magnetar Financial LLC Sells 122,381 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company $WY

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company by 84.0%, now owning just 23,357 shares valued at $684,000 after selling over 122,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have also recently initiated or adjusted their positions in Weyerhaeuser, contributing to the ownership of 82.99% of the company's stock.
• A range of analysts have issued new price targets for Weyerhaeuser, with Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock from "strong-buy" to "strong sell," while the average target price is currently set at $32.88.

Magnetar Financial LLC trimmed its position in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 84.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 122,381 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,775,816 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,331,356,000 after acquiring an additional 339,884 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 0.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,766,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,047,234,000 after acquiring an additional 193,854 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Weyerhaeuser by 3.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,931,955 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $349,368,000 after acquiring an additional 440,163 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 1.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,138,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $267,561,000 after buying an additional 151,929 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 2.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,065,565 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $264,171,000 after buying an additional 213,062 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WY shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.88.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Weyerhaeuser stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $25.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,865,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,073,778. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.86 and a 200 day moving average of $26.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $18.43 billion, a PE ratio of 67.23, a PEG ratio of 79.23 and a beta of 1.07. Weyerhaeuser Company has a one year low of $24.10 and a one year high of $34.03.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 3.97%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.3%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Weyerhaeuser

In other news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director directly owned 21,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,178.62. The trade was a 22.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.