Insider Selling: Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) SVP Sells 8,349 Shares of Stock

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) SVP Keith O’rear sold 8,349 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total value of $300,814.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 170,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,149,059.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WY traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.90. 3,438,306 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,566,995. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Weyerhaeuser has a 12 month low of $28.12 and a 12 month high of $36.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.39.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its earnings results 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 business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. CIBC set a $37.00 price objective on Weyerhaeuser and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut Weyerhaeuser from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weyerhaeuser currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at about $753,497,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 53.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,571,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,028,191,000 after purchasing an additional 10,271,891 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,632,794 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $369,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768,676 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 376.3% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $63,418,000 after buying an additional 1,634,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 2.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 60,389,476 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,819,535,000 after buying an additional 1,484,895 shares during the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.