West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.60.

Several research firms recently commented on WFG. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 price target for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Fraser Mackenzie lowered 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. TD Cowen lowered 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of WFG stock opened at $69.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.65 and a beta of 0.99. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $57.34 and a 1-year high of $78.55. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.26.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($2.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.51%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter worth $91,014,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 89.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,720,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,910,000 after purchasing an additional 812,474 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,613,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,799,000 after purchasing an additional 802,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter worth $39,660,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 500.0% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

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.