Weyerhaeuser "overweight," estimates revised

08/24/06 - Prudential Financial

NEW YORK, August 24 (newratings.com) - Analyst John C Tumazos of Prudential Financial maintains his "overweight" rating on Weyerhaeuser Co (WY), while revising his estimates for the company. The target price is set to $92.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the company targets to repurchase around 65,000 shares per day in order to complete its authorization of 18 million by early 2007. Weyerhaeuser has sold its market pulp, uncoated freesheet and coated groundwood segments to Domtar for $3.3 billion, the analyst says. Prudential Financial expects the company to use the sale proceeds for reinvestment in its core businesses and to pay a dividend. The EPS estimate for 2007 has been reduced from $3.96 to $3.38 to reflect unfavourable national trends. The EPS estimates for 2008, 2009 and 2010 have been raised from $4.69 to $4.71, from $5.17 to $5.22 and from $5.96 to $6.03, respectively.