Weyerhaeuser Ups Dividend

Weyerhaeuser Company ( WY - Analyst Report ) once again announced rewards in the form of quarterly dividends for its shareholders. This time the dividends were higher than the disbursements made previously.

The quarterly dividend rate has been increased by 3 cents or 18% from 17 cents to 20 cents per share and will be paid on May 31, 2013 to shareholders of record as on May 10, 2013. The revised rate equates to annual dividend rate of 80 cents.

The market took the news positively and an increase to the extent of 0.3% has been witnessed in the company’s stock price as on the close of the business on Apr 11, 2013.

Weyerhaeuser follows a consistent policy of rewarding its shareholders through dividend payments and has occasionally revised its rates to boost their confidence. A similar revision was announced on Oct 11, 2012 when the quarterly rate was hiked 13% from 15 cents to 17 cents. Taking these two revisions into account, we find that Weyerhaeuser has grown its dividend rate by roughly 33% over the period.

In the fourth quarter 2012, cash dividends paid by Weyerhaeuser amounted to $92 million.

Weyerhaeuser is slated to release its first quarter 2013 financial results on Apr 26, 2013. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter currently is at 21 cents while estimates of years 2013 and 2014 are $1.03 and $1.30, respectively.

Weyerhaeuser is one of the leading U.S. forest product companies and has a market capitalization of roughly $17.3 billion. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks to watch out for in the industry are International Paper Co. ( IP - Analyst Report ) , Louisiana-Pacific Corp. ( LPX - Snapshot Report ) and Potlatch Corporation ( PCH - Snapshot Report ) .