Investors Who Bought Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) Shares A Year Ago Are Now Down 28%
Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!
Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 17% in the last month. But that is minimal compensation for the share price under-performance over the last year. In fact the stock is down 28% in the last year, well below the market return.
See our latest analysis for Weyerhaeuser
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
Unfortunately Weyerhaeuser reported an EPS drop of 73% for the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 28% the share price fall. It may have been that the weak EPS was not as bad as some had feared. With a P/E ratio of 104.25, it's fair to say the market sees an EPS rebound on the cards.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Weyerhaeuser's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Weyerhaeuser the TSR over the last year was -24%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Weyerhaeuser shareholders are down 24% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 7.7%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 0.6% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality businesses. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.
Weyerhaeuser is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
