Blume Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $3,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 975,758 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,468,000 after acquiring an additional 160,000 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 35,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 41,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,062 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 330,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,299,000 after acquiring an additional 125,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warburton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

NYSE WY opened at $28.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Weyerhaeuser has a 1 year low of $26.73 and a 1 year high of $36.27. The company has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a PE ratio of 52.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.77.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is currently 152.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WY. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. CIBC upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Weyerhaeuser presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

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.