Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,840,000 shares, an increase of 18.7% from the August 31st total of 7,450,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WY traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $33.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,759,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,662,615. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.13. Weyerhaeuser has a one year low of $26.73 and a one year high of $36.27. The company has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78 and a beta of 1.40.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weyerhaeuser news, Director James Calvin O’rourke acquired 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.01 per share, with a total value of $249,678.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,680.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Albert Monaco purchased 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $31.38 per share, with a total value of $988,470.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 70,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,219,381.88. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James Calvin O’rourke acquired 7,800 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.01 per share, for a total transaction of $249,678.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,672 shares in the company, valued at $565,680.72. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weyerhaeuser

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WY. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 3.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 896,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,207,000 after purchasing an additional 31,355 shares in the last quarter. Slagle Financial LLC grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 101.7% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 114,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 57,608 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 1,548.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 79,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 75,007 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 16.2% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 1,961,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,935,000 after acquiring an additional 273,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in Weyerhaeuser by 243.3% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,300,000 after acquiring an additional 242,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WY. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.83.

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.