Arizona State Retirement System Grows Position in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,388 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $5,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 172.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Weyerhaeuser Stock Up 1.5 %

WY stock opened at $30.69 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $29.69 and its 200 day moving average is $30.80. The stock has a market cap of $22.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43. Weyerhaeuser has a 1-year low of $26.73 and a 1-year high of $36.27.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. Sell-side analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is currently 152.73%.

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.