State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 10,300 Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its position in Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 227,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,300 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $6,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WY. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Weyerhaeuser by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WY opened at $30.21 on Friday. Weyerhaeuser has a twelve month low of $26.73 and a twelve month high of $36.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 54.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.64 and a 200-day moving average of $30.80.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 5.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. 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 2.78%. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 152.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

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.