Granite Investment Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,544 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock after selling 68,517 shares during the quarter. Louisiana-Pacific accounts for 1.0% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.31% of Louisiana-Pacific worth $22,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the 4th quarter worth about $78,181,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,708,649 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $384,031,000 after buying an additional 540,703 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 215.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 470,167 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $48,686,000 after acquiring an additional 320,912 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,087,989 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $733,961,000 after acquiring an additional 132,891 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 217.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,786 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $14,993,000 after acquiring an additional 99,172 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of Louisiana-Pacific stock opened at $86.20 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.86. Louisiana-Pacific Co. has a one year low of $71.39 and a one year high of $122.87. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The building manufacturing company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.24. Louisiana-Pacific had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 25.35%. The company had revenue of $681.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $666.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Louisiana-Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LPX shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $123.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.50.

Louisiana-Pacific Profile

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.