West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) to Post FY2024 Earnings of $4.15 Per Share, Scotiabank Forecasts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for West Fraser Timber in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $4.15 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $1.81. Scotiabank has a “Outperform” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $3.56 per share.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WFG. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WFG opened at $77.02 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.07. West Fraser Timber has a twelve month low of $64.11 and a twelve month high of $90.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.48. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 1.39% and a positive return on equity of 2.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.52) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -49.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,413,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 161.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 509,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,597,000 after purchasing an additional 314,750 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 9.0% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,319,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,256,000 after purchasing an additional 191,613 shares in the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the first quarter worth $15,148,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter worth $9,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd., a diversified wood products company, engages in manufacturing, selling, marketing, and distributing lumber, engineered wood products, pulp, newsprint, wood chips, and other residuals and renewable energy. It offers spruce-pine-fir, douglas fir-larch, hem-fir, and southern yellow pine lumber, treated wood products, medium density fiberboard panels and plywood, oriented strand board, and laminated veneer lumber wood products, as well as particleboards.