Weyerhaeuser Company (WY) announced to have received approval from its board of directors for an increase in its quarterly dividend rate. The approval compliments the company’s efforts of rewarding its shareholders well.
The new dividend rate has been fixed at 22 cents, an increase of 10.0% over the previous rate of 20 cents. Revised annual dividend rate now stands at 88 cents per share. The new dividend will be paid on Sep 13, 2013 to shareholders of record as on Aug 30, 2013.
In Apr 2013, Weyerhaeuser made a similar announcement of an 18.0% increase in quarterly dividend rate from 17 cents to 20 cents.
Consistent dividend payments with occasional increases have been Weyerhaeuser’s favoured mode of rewarding its shareholders over time and points toward the company’s healthy balance sheet and strong cash position. If we steal a look into the results of the quarter ended Jun 30, 2013, the company paid $109 million in dividends.
Apart from the capital deployment actions of Weyerhaeuser, a brief discussion on the financial results of the company’s second quarter 2013 is also given below:
Weyerhaeuser reported earnings per share, before special items, of 35 cents, up from just 9 cents earnings reported in the year-ago quarter and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents. Net sales increased 19.4% year over year on the back of healthy performances in all four segments.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Weyerhaeuser currently stands at 24 cents for the third quarter 2013, reflecting an increase of 9.1% year over year. Earnings estimate for 2013 and 2014 are at $1.14 and $1.38, up 96.0% and 21.3%, respectively.
Weyerhaeuser is one of the leading U.S. forest product companies, primarily engaged in growing and harvesting timber; manufacture, distribution, and sale of forest products; in addition to real estate development and construction. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Other stocks to watch out for in the industry are Potlatch Corporation (PCH) and Rayonier Inc. (RYN), each with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (LPX).
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