Westpac Banking Corp Sells 118,930 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp sold 118,930 shares of Weyerhaeuser Company, reducing its stake by 93.7% to just 8,052 shares, leaving its holdings valued at $236,000.
• Weyerhaeuser Company reported earnings of $0.12 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations but showing a 2.8% decline in revenue year-over-year, totaling $1.88 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a high payout ratio of 221.05%, highlighting concerns about sustainability in future dividends.

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its position in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 93.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 118,930 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of WY opened at $26.41 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.07 and a 200 day moving average of $27.29. Weyerhaeuser Company has a fifty-two week low of $24.10 and a fifty-two week high of $34.03. The firm has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 74.23 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.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Dividend Announcement

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

Weyerhaeuser declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis bought 4,000 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.29 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,178.62. This represents a 22.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Weyerhaeuser

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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