Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Sets New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Weyerhaeuser's stock price reached a new 52-week low at $24.06, with a trading volume of 1,855,888 shares.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Weyerhaeuser, with ratings ranging from "strong sell" to "hold," reflecting mixed sentiment in the market.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which results in an annualized yield of 3.5%, despite a high payout ratio of 221.05%.

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $24.06 and last traded at $24.07, with a volume of 1855888 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WY shares. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Weyerhaeuser from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperformer" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.88.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.52 billion, a PE ratio of 61.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 84.50 and a beta of 1.07. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 3.97%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Weyerhaeuser's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director directly owned 21,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,178.62. This trade represents a 22.89% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weyerhaeuser

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WY. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $600,502,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 86.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,550,466 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $348,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,284,982 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the first quarter worth $107,330,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 2,952.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,130,367 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $91,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027,823 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 1st quarter worth $55,429,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% 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.