USS Investment Management Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 30.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 64,270 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $4,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WY. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at about $638,470,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 38,928,176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,095,726,000 after acquiring an additional 14,213,243 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 122.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,881,592 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $137,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685,634 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,196,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,217 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,332,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WY. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. CIBC cut their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Weyerhaeuser from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.75.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

Shares of WY traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.75. 800,797 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,743,934. The company has a market cap of $18.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.15. Weyerhaeuser has a 52-week low of $24.10 and a 52-week high of $34.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 168.00%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 8th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign 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.