Raymond James Financial Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Weyerhaeuser Company $WY

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. sold 24,489 shares of Weyerhaeuser Company, reducing its holdings by 2.6% to approximately 906,457 shares, valued at $26.54 million.
• Weyerhaeuser's Board of Directors authorized a $1 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating the management believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding about 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 221.05%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 906,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 24,489 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.12% of Weyerhaeuser worth $26,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 232.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 6,622 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 37,129 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 17,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the 1st quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WY. 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.88.

Insider Activity at Weyerhaeuser

In other news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis bought 4,000 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.29 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the acquisition, the director 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WY traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.15. 2,985,982 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,081,294. Weyerhaeuser Company has a 1 year low of $24.10 and a 1 year high of $34.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 80.15 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.94 and a 200 day moving average of $26.98.

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

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given 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 3.2%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio is presently 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to buy up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.