Weyerhaeuser Company $WY Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 4.7% to 11,382,659 shares (≈1.58%), worth about $282.2M, and institutional investors now own roughly 82.99% of the company.
• Analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.88 (six Buy, four Hold, one Sell).
• Weyerhaeuser announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 (annualized yield ~3.6%), though the company's reported payout ratio is an unusually high 190.91%.

Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Free Report) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,382,659 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 511,657 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.58% of Weyerhaeuser worth $282,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 27.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,881,226 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $46,636,000 after buying an additional 405,575 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,322,728 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $57,278,000 after buying an additional 46,207 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,647,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,836,000 after acquiring an additional 669,451 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,675,994 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $91,128,000 after acquiring an additional 97,769 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter worth $1,154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.88.

Insider Transactions at Weyerhaeuser

In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director James Calvin O'rourke acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.35 per share, with a total value of $101,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 28,661 shares in the company, valued at $726,556.35. This trade represents a 16.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard Beckwitt acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.70 per share, with a total value of $514,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,496.20. This represents a 491.88% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 28,500 shares of company stock valued at $721,645. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Down 3.9%

NYSE:WY opened at $23.23 on Thursday. Weyerhaeuser Company has a 52 week low of $21.16 and a 52 week high of $30.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 1.50% and a net margin of 4.69%.The company's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Weyerhaeuser's payout ratio is currently 190.91%.

Weyerhaeuser Profile

Weyerhaeuser Company NYSE: WY is a leading integrated forest products company whose core businesses are timberland ownership and forest products manufacturing. The company owns and manages large tracts of timberland and harvests, processes and sells wood and wood-derived products used primarily in residential and industrial construction. Its manufacturing operations produce a range of building materials, including lumber, engineered wood products and wood panels, alongside fiber-based products that serve multiple commercial applications.

Founded in 1900 by Frederick Weyerhaeuser and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company has a long history in the North American forest products industry.

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