** BMO Capital Markets upgrades U.S. forest products firm Weyerhaeuser WY.N to "outperform" from "market perform"

** WY shares up ~1% at $31.26 premarket

** Brokerage says higher export duties on lumber coming from Canada will push prices higher and will benefit producers including WY with a greater mix of production in the U.S.

** "Lumber capacity cuts in 2024, further log supply pressures in both British Columbia and Quebec, and limited room for European lumber producers to dramatically ramp-up exports to the U.S. should all help improve North American supply/demand balance and aid prices" - BMO

** Expects "modest" improvement in new residential construction and repair & remodeling (R&R) recovery to be 2H25 weighted

** 7 of 12 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 5 "hold"; their median PT is $38 - data compiled by LSEG

** As of last close, stock down 11% YTD

(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru)

((Pooja.Menon@thomsonreuters.com;))