West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.25.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WFG. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, March 28th.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

West Fraser Timber stock opened at $76.87 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.91. West Fraser Timber has a 12 month low of $64.11 and a 12 month high of $90.17. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.53 and a beta of 1.18. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.48. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 2.35% and a negative net margin of 1.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.52) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 26th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 26th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -105.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFG. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. EJF Capital LLC grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 18.6% in the first quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 8,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares in the last quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the first quarter valued at about $1,220,000. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 6.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 178.5% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 835,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,236,000 after purchasing an additional 535,708 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About West Fraser Timber

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.