Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 82,627 Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,163,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 82,627 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.16% of Weyerhaeuser worth $32,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 172.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of WY opened at $29.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.89. Weyerhaeuser has a 52 week low of $26.73 and a 52 week high of $36.27. The stock has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.42.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is 145.46%.

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.