Short Interest in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Decreases By 19.4%

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 656,900 shares, a decline of 19.4% from the August 15th total of 815,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 188,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WFG shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $105.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,005,000 after acquiring an additional 60,823 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,886,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,011,000. GRS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 455,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,017,000 after purchasing an additional 58,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 83,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,163,000 after buying an additional 22,438 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

WFG traded up $0.46 on Tuesday, reaching $92.36. The stock had a trading volume of 60,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,682. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.85 and a 200-day moving average of $81.78. West Fraser Timber has a fifty-two week low of $64.11 and a fifty-two week high of $93.23. The company has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.06 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.09). West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.03) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.237 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -106.61%.

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.