Markel Group Inc. Buys 82,000 Shares of Weyerhaeuser Company $WY

Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) by 68.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Weyerhaeuser were worth $3,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Weyerhaeuser by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 51,179,282 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,225,232,000 after buying an additional 4,885,818 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Weyerhaeuser by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 43,574,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,043,164,000 after acquiring an additional 5,437,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Weyerhaeuser by 3.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,298,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $821,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,553 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the second quarter valued at about $468,969,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 11.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,212,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,766,000 after purchasing an additional 639,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Weyerhaeuser Stock Performance

NYSE:WY opened at $20.57 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.73 and its 200-day moving average is $23.64. Weyerhaeuser Company has a 52-week low of $18.25 and a 52-week high of $27.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.92.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.04. Weyerhaeuser had a net margin of 6.47% and a return on equity of 1.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weyerhaeuser Company will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Weyerhaeuser’s payout ratio is currently 135.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WY shares. Wall Street Zen raised Weyerhaeuser from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial raised Weyerhaeuser from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Weyerhaeuser from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.10.

About Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) is a real estate investment trust focused on timberlands and wood products. The company owns or controls approximately 10.4 million acres of timberlands in the United States and manages additional timberlands under long-term licenses. Its operations are concentrated in major timber-producing regions, including the Pacific Northwest, the South and the Western United States.

Weyerhaeuser’s principal products include lumber, engineered wood products, structural panels and other materials used in residential and commercial construction.