Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) Reaches New 52-Week High at $84.81

Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $84.81 and last traded at $84.13, with a volume of 1109044 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LPX shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Louisiana-Pacific from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on Louisiana-Pacific in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.75.

Louisiana-Pacific Trading Up 16.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.25 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.13.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The building manufacturing company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 15.65% and a net margin of 6.90%. The business had revenue of $658.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $618.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is 42.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $193,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,692.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Louisiana-Pacific

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 18.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,918 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 20,699 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,698 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 387,233 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $21,402,000 after purchasing an additional 32,957 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 31.5% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific by 1.0% in the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 239,373 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $13,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Company Profile

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.