Brokers Set Expectations for West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:WFG)

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Equities researchers at Raymond James dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for West Fraser Timber in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $5.31 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $5.52. Raymond James currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $3.66 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for West Fraser Timber’s FY2025 earnings at $9.43 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on WFG. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price objective on West Fraser Timber and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $78.91 on Thursday. West Fraser Timber has a twelve month low of $64.11 and a twelve month high of $90.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -65.21 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.70.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.48. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 2.34% and a negative net margin of 1.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.52) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -49.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,813,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,820,000 after buying an additional 28,399 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 9.0% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,319,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,256,000 after buying an additional 191,613 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,134,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,533,000 after buying an additional 9,336 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth approximately $79,179,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,008,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,306,000 after purchasing an additional 53,002 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.