National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 349,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 32,225 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $9,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter worth about $743,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 670,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,860,000 after acquiring an additional 240,000 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 1,242,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,989,000 after acquiring an additional 66,994 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 108,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,851,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,130,000 after purchasing an additional 460,729 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

WY stock opened at $26.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Weyerhaeuser has a 12-month low of $26.07 and a 12-month high of $35.08.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is presently 152.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC raised shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Weyerhaeuser presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

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.