JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 440,163 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company by 3.8%, owning 11.9 million shares valued at approximately $349 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Weyerhaeuser reported a net income of $0.12 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, despite a 2.8% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, representing a 3.3% yield and a high payout ratio of 221.05%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,931,955 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 440,163 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.65% of Weyerhaeuser worth $349,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 63.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,265,484 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $212,733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833,288 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 23,525.2% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,428,378 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,332 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,196,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,217 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,332,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WY shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.88.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

WY stock traded down $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $26.31. 3,300,921 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,671,673. Weyerhaeuser Company has a 12 month low of $24.10 and a 12 month high of $34.03. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $26.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of 69.25, a PEG ratio of 76.52 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Weyerhaeuser's payout ratio is 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Weyerhaeuser

In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis bought 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.29 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.