Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Buys 27,583 Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,445,539 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,583 shares during the quarter. West Fraser Timber comprises 1.3% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned approximately 1.85% of West Fraser Timber worth $100,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 10.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,450,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,306,000 after purchasing an additional 321,102 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth $110,334,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at $86,416,000. Atlas FRM LLC acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,090,600. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,836,000 after acquiring an additional 465,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of West Fraser Timber to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised West Fraser Timber from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.80.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG opened at $65.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of -4.76 and a beta of 1.12. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1 year low of $57.83 and a 1 year high of $76.99.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($1.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.84) by ($0.19). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 9.19% and a negative net margin of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -4.77 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.25%.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is an integrated forest products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1955 as a sawmill in Quesnel, the company has grown into a producer of wood-based building materials and other forest products. Its products include lumber, oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, medium-density fibreboard, laminated veneer lumber, pulp, paper and related products. West Fraser also uses wood residuals to produce items such as wood chips and renewable energy.