Brokers Set Expectations for West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:WFG)

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Investment analysts at Raymond James cut their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $5.31 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $5.52. Raymond James has a “Strong-Buy” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $3.66 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for West Fraser Timber’s FY2025 earnings at $9.43 EPS.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.48. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 1.39% and a positive return on equity of 2.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.52) EPS.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank set a $100.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $78.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.70. West Fraser Timber has a twelve month low of $64.11 and a twelve month high of $90.17. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -65.21 and a beta of 1.15.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -49.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,785,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,065,000 after purchasing an additional 39,929 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 16.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 47.6% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,244,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the third quarter worth $1,798,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 9.0% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,319,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,256,000 after purchasing an additional 191,613 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

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.