Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,952 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $2,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 290.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weyerhaeuser presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WY opened at $29.38 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.71. Weyerhaeuser has a 52 week low of $26.73 and a 52 week high of $36.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 3.86%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 152.73%.

Weyerhaeuser 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.