West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.20.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WFG. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded West Fraser Timber from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, July 31st.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of WFG opened at $66.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.27 and its 200 day moving average is $66.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 2.06. West Fraser Timber has a fifty-two week low of $57.34 and a fifty-two week high of $76.99.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 22.98% and a negative return on equity of 10.84%. Sell-side analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post -3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 29th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -8.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 72.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 177.0% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 47,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. is a diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company manufactures and distributes building materials and other forest products, including lumber, oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, laminated veneer lumber, medium-density fiberboard and related engineered wood products.

West Fraser also has operations in pulp and paper and produces products used in construction, furniture, packaging and other industrial applications.