Quantbot Technologies LP Boosts Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 61.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,901 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,253 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WFG. FMR LLC boosted its position in West Fraser Timber by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,447,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,047,000 after purchasing an additional 266,298 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 60.7% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 317,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,453,000 after purchasing an additional 119,841 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 853,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,830,000 after buying an additional 109,447 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 293,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after buying an additional 108,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 383.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 74,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,296,000 after buying an additional 59,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WFG. Raymond James decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 0.3 %

West Fraser Timber stock opened at $77.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.65 and a 200-day moving average of $88.85. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -367.02 and a beta of 1.23. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 52 week low of $73.91 and a 52 week high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. As a group, equities analysts predict that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -609.52%.

West Fraser Timber 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.