Brokerages Set West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Price Target at $87.00

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.6667.

A number of research analysts have commented on WFG shares. Zacks Research cut shares of West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on West Fraser Timber from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. TD Securities cut their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter valued at $91,014,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 31,861.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 896,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,968,000 after buying an additional 894,046 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 89.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,720,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,910,000 after buying an additional 812,474 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,613,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,799,000 after buying an additional 802,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,656,000 after acquiring an additional 799,422 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WFG stock opened at $71.59 on Thursday. West Fraser Timber has a one year low of $57.34 and a one year high of $81.13. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.88 and a beta of 1.12.

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

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.51%.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

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.