Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on LPX. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $74.00 to $64.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research raised Louisiana-Pacific from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Louisiana-Pacific from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Louisiana-Pacific Stock Up 4.0%

LPX stock opened at $78.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.02 and a 200 day moving average of $74.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 65.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Louisiana-Pacific has a 52 week low of $62.18 and a 52 week high of $100.34.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The building manufacturing company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.18. Louisiana-Pacific had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 4.84%. The company had revenue of $691.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Louisiana-Pacific’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Louisiana-Pacific will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.45%.

Institutional Trading of Louisiana-Pacific

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LPX. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the 2nd quarter worth about $445,593,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,219,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,389,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 497,852 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $36,219,000 after purchasing an additional 84,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,521,859 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $119,709,000 after purchasing an additional 409,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

About Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) manufactures building products for residential construction, repair and remodeling, and light commercial markets. Its portfolio includes engineered wood siding and trim, oriented strand board (OSB) panels, and other structural and specialty building products.

The company’s products include LP SmartSide siding and trim, LP OSB sheathing, and solutions designed for applications such as radiant heat control and fire-rated construction. LP serves customers primarily in North America and also has operations in South America.

Founded in 1972, Louisiana-Pacific helped develop and expand the use of engineered wood products in construction.