West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $100.00.

Several research analysts have commented on WFG shares. Zacks Research raised shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Wednesday.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 1.2%

WFG stock opened at $68.68 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.53. West Fraser Timber has a fifty-two week low of $66.36 and a fifty-two week high of $102.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -39.25 and a beta of 1.13.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 0.85% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is currently -73.14%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 7,588.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 18.3% in the first quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.7% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 875,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,385,000 after acquiring an additional 22,777 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 3.8% in the first quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 6.9% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.