The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $13.12 Million Stock Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 200,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,992 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.26% of West Fraser Timber worth $13,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 230,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,764,000 after acquiring an additional 6,640 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 9.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the second quarter valued at about $5,248,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 114,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.1% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday. Fraser Mackenzie decreased their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.20.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of WFG stock opened at $64.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.66 and a 200-day moving average of $66.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $57.34 and a 1-year high of $76.99.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 10.84% and a negative net margin of 22.98%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -8.29%.

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.