West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (WFG) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.80.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on West Fraser Timber from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Fraser Timber from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Thursday, October 29th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of West Fraser Timber to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.06. The stock had a trading volume of 94,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 192,912. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of -4.77 and a beta of 1.12. West Fraser Timber has a 1 year low of $57.83 and a 1 year high of $76.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.18.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($1.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.84) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 20.39% and a negative return on equity of 9.19%. Equities analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post -4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 29th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.25%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 72.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. EFG International AG purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber in the second quarter worth $34,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 4,072.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 97.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is an integrated forest products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1955 as a sawmill in Quesnel, the company has grown into a producer of wood-based building materials and other forest products. Its products include lumber, oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, medium-density fibreboard, laminated veneer lumber, pulp, paper and related products. West Fraser also uses wood residuals to produce items such as wood chips and renewable energy.