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

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) was the target 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 short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Weyerhaeuser Price Performance

WY traded down $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.61. 255,531 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,628,777. Weyerhaeuser has a twelve month low of $26.73 and a twelve month high of $36.27. The company 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.76.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 3.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Weyerhaeuser will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weyerhaeuser Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Weyerhaeuser’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is currently 152.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Weyerhaeuser from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cibc World Mkts raised Weyerhaeuser from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. CIBC upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WY. Norges Bank bought a new position in Weyerhaeuser during the 4th quarter worth $638,470,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 38,928,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,095,726,000 after acquiring an additional 14,213,243 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,755,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,210,694,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035,048 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 257.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,472,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,437,000 after acquiring an additional 3,220,235 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 122.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,881,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $137,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685,634 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.