West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $59.31 and last traded at $60.14, with a volume of 188150 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Sunday, October 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.25.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 3.0%

The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.28 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.93 and its 200 day moving average is $72.20.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by ($0.91). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is currently -38.21%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,876,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,931,000 after purchasing an additional 29,746 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,394,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,242,000 after purchasing an additional 232,558 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,656,000 after purchasing an additional 799,422 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,642,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,388,000 after buying an additional 217,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,118,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,883,000 after buying an additional 26,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

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.