West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Receives $82.67 Average PT from Analysts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.6667.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WFG. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Raymond James Financial raised West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. EFG International AG bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 75.8% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 212.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 780 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 346.6% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Finally, Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $64.47 on Monday. West Fraser Timber has a 1 year low of $57.34 and a 1 year high of $79.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported ($2.42) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.71) by $0.29. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 5.69% and a negative net margin of 17.15%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is -10.51%.

About West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. (NYSE: WFG) is a leading North American diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates a broad portfolio of manufacturing facilities that produce lumber, engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, as well as medium density fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, pulp and paper. West Fraser’s integrated production model spans harvesting, milling and finishing, allowing it to serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial construction markets.

Founded in 1955 as West Fraser Mills, the company has grown through both organic investment and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest lumber producers in the world.