West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,836 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of West Fraser Timber worth $3,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,014,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,613,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,799,000 after acquiring an additional 802,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter worth $39,660,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 500.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,424,000 after purchasing an additional 442,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth $8,453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WFG shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial cut West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on West Fraser Timber from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Fraser Mackenzie decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $66.63 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $67.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.80. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1 year low of $57.34 and a 1 year high of $76.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by ($0.08). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 9.67% and a negative net margin of 21.86%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -3.56 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 Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.51%.

About West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. (NYSE: WFG) is a leading North American diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates a broad portfolio of manufacturing facilities that produce lumber, engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, as well as medium density fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, pulp and paper. West Fraser’s integrated production model spans harvesting, milling and finishing, allowing it to serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial construction markets.

Founded in 1955 as West Fraser Mills, the company has grown through both organic investment and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest lumber producers in the world.