Independent Advisor Alliance Buys 938 Shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 290.9% during the 4th 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 period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Weyerhaeuser in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew 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 buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 82.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WY opened at $29.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79. Weyerhaeuser has a fifty-two week low of $26.73 and a fifty-two week high of $36.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 3.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Weyerhaeuser’s dividend payout ratio is currently 152.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WY shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James raised Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.