West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Receives $82.67 Average Target Price from Brokerages

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $82.6667.

WFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFG. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,656,000 after acquiring an additional 799,422 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,642,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,388,000 after purchasing an additional 217,304 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 149.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 68,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after purchasing an additional 40,960 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 31,861.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 896,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,968,000 after purchasing an additional 894,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,358,000. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.0%

WFG opened at $64.47 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.50. West Fraser Timber has a 52 week low of $57.34 and a 52 week high of $79.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 1.12.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported ($2.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.71) by $0.29. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 5.69% and a negative net margin of 17.15%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.51%.

About West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. (NYSE: WFG) is a leading North American diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates a broad portfolio of manufacturing facilities that produce lumber, engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, as well as medium density fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, pulp and paper. West Fraser’s integrated production model spans harvesting, milling and finishing, allowing it to serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial construction markets.

Founded in 1955 as West Fraser Mills, the company has grown through both organic investment and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest lumber producers in the world.