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

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.25.

A number of brokerages have commented on WFG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Zacks Research downgraded West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth about $1,358,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in West Fraser Timber by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,174,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,829,000 after buying an additional 22,443 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 28,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $688,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,837,000 after acquiring an additional 24,672 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $59.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.61 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.00. West Fraser Timber has a 52-week low of $57.34 and a 52-week high of $100.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by ($0.91). The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 4.35%. As a group, analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 25th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -38.21%.

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.