West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Plans $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

West Fraser Timber has increased its dividend payment by an average of 18.3% per year over the last three years. West Fraser Timber has a payout ratio of 16.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect West Fraser Timber to earn $7.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.0%.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG stock opened at $76.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.79. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -362.89 and a beta of 1.23. West Fraser Timber has a fifty-two week low of $73.91 and a fifty-two week high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WFG. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Raymond James cut their price target on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.