Aviva PLC Buys Shares of 30,649 West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Aviva PLC bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,650,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 3rd quarter worth $258,000. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

NYSE WFG opened at $75.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of -360.05 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.32 and its 200 day moving average is $87.58. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $69.48 and a fifty-two week high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 0.08%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is presently -609.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WFG. TD Securities dropped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James dropped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

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.