West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.07% from the stock’s current price.

WFG has been the subject of several other research reports. Fraser Mackenzie reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock traded down $1.45 on Friday, hitting $70.21. 46,862 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 212,373. West Fraser Timber has a one year low of $57.34 and a one year high of $76.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.47. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 1.00.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($2.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($1.17). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 9.67% and a negative net margin of 21.86%.The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter valued at $91,014,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,613,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,799,000 after purchasing an additional 802,477 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,660,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 500.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,424,000 after purchasing an additional 442,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 10.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,450,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,306,000 after purchasing an additional 321,102 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

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.