Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Sets New 52-Week High at $36.27

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.27 and last traded at $36.12, with a volume of 133598 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Weyerhaeuser from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. CIBC set a $37.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weyerhaeuser presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.71.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 2.22.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 7.36% and a net margin of 10.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Weyerhaeuser's payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Weyerhaeuser news, SVP Keith O'rear sold 8,349 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total value of $300,814.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 170,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,149,059.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Weyerhaeuser news, SVP Keith O'rear sold 8,349 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total value of $300,814.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 170,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,149,059.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nicole Weyerhaeuser Piasecki sold 33,426 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.64, for a total transaction of $1,124,450.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,347.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,622 shares of company stock worth $1,487,517 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 606.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 848 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Weyerhaeuser by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 888 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company's stock.

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.