Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 168,642 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company by 15.2%, owning 1,280,355 shares valued at approximately $37.49 million.
• Weyerhaeuser's quarterly earnings beat estimates with $0.12 earnings per share, despite a revenue decline of 2.8% compared to last year.
• The company has authorized a $1 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the stock's value amidst recent price target downgrades from various analysts.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,280,355 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 168,642 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Weyerhaeuser worth $37,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WY. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

WY opened at $25.49 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.08, a P/E/G ratio of 66.64 and a beta of 1.08. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.36. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.02. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Weyerhaeuser Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Weyerhaeuser's payout ratio is 221.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weyerhaeuser from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. CIBC dropped their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperformer" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.88.

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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