Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) Shares Acquired by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company by 171.3%, acquiring an additional 597,742 shares, bringing its total ownership to 946,762 shares valued at approximately $27.7 million.
• The company reported earnings of $0.12 per share for the last quarter, which exceeded analyst expectations, although its revenue of $1.88 billion fell short of the forecast.
• Weyerhaeuser recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share with a dividend yield of 3.3%, alongside a $1 billion share buyback plan indicating confidence in its stock value.

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 171.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 946,762 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 597,742 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.13% of Weyerhaeuser worth $27,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WY. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 101,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 7,853 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter worth $26,206,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 42,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 329,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 151,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 15,415 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.29 per share, for a total transaction of $101,160.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 21,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,178.62. This represents a 22.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

NYSE WY traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.41. The stock had a trading volume of 4,369,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,079,364. The firm's 50 day moving average is $26.07 and its 200 day moving average is $27.29. Weyerhaeuser Company has a twelve month low of $24.10 and a twelve month high of $34.03. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.50, a PEG ratio of 73.25 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Weyerhaeuser declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 buy up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

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

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.