S&P ups Weyerhaeuser, facilities to BBB

S&P said it raised Weyerhaeuser Co.’s corporate credit rating to BBB from BBB- and its short-term rating to A-2 from A-3.

The outlook is stable.

"At the same time, we raised our issue-level ratings on the company's senior unsecured credit facilities to BBB from BBB-," S&P credit analyst Thomas Nadramia said in a news release.

The agency said Weyerhaeuser has successfully repaid $1.7 billion of debt incurred in 2016 to fund share repurchases following its acquisition of Plum Creek, reducing pro forma debt leverage to below 4 times. The company now owns about 13 million acres of timberlands valued at well over $20 billion, which provides substantial asset protection to lenders and investors.

S&P said it expects Weyerhaeuser's 2017 EBITDA to reach about $1.8 billion, reducing debt leverage to about 3.6 times by year-end 2017.

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