Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Buys 20,351 Shares of Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 716,251 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,351 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.99% of Louisiana-Pacific worth $50,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPX. Capula Management Ltd bought a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific in the 3rd quarter valued at $485,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 195,718 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $10,817,000 after acquiring an additional 51,461 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP raised its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 222.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 14,656 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 10,106 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific in the 2nd quarter valued at $114,640,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut Louisiana-Pacific from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. TD Securities increased their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.71.

Louisiana-Pacific Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of LPX traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.34. 833,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,090,219. Louisiana-Pacific Co. has a 52 week low of $49.47 and a 52 week high of $84.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 3.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79 and a beta of 1.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.92.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The building manufacturing company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $658.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.60 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 15.65% and a net margin of 6.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Louisiana-Pacific

In related news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of Louisiana-Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,692.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

About Louisiana-Pacific

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.