West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Receives $83.20 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.20.

Several brokerages recently commented on WFG. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on 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. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of West Fraser Timber from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of WFG stock opened at $70.05 on Thursday. West Fraser Timber has a 12 month low of $57.34 and a 12 month high of $76.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.81. The stock has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of -4.54 and a beta of 1.00.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.08). West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 22.98% and a negative return on equity of 10.84%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post -3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -8.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the second quarter valued at $5,893,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,279,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter worth about $110,334,000. Stevens Capital Partners purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth approximately $338,000. Finally, Robotti Robert purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth $20,021,000. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.