West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.25.

WFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, October 26th. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Zacks Research downgraded West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the second quarter worth $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 265.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 346.6% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1,396.5% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 2,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of WFG opened at $60.14 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. West Fraser Timber has a 52 week low of $59.31 and a 52 week high of $100.33. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.95 and a beta of 1.12.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by ($0.91). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 4.35% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. On average, analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 25th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is presently -38.21%.

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.