Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,680,000 shares, a drop of 13.1% from the February 13th total of 9,990,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 290.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 172.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WY traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.61. The company had a trading volume of 255,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,628,777. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.83, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.76. Weyerhaeuser has a one year low of $26.73 and a one year high of $36.27.

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

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is 152.73%.

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.