Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Price Target to $92.00

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) had its price target cut by Royal Bank Of Canada from $97.00 to $92.00 in a report released on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WFG. TD Securities decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.50.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $67.07 on Monday. West Fraser Timber has a fifty-two week low of $65.45 and a fifty-two week high of $100.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.96. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.33 and a beta of 1.13.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by ($0.91). The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 0.85% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were 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 was Thursday, September 25th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -73.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 56.4% during the 3rd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares in the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth about $374,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 21.8% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 100,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,379,000 after buying an additional 18,055 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 422.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 5,348 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 7.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 34,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.