Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 321,102 Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,450,867 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 321,102 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $225,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. EFG International AG acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 177.0% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Aegis Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 1st quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on West Fraser Timber from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, July 17th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.60.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $66.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.80. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $57.34 and a 1-year high of $76.99. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 1.00.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 9.67% and a negative net margin of 21.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -3.56 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is presently -8.51%.

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.