West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,836 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $6,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WFG. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 7,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 16.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 6.2% during the third quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WFG shares. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 3.1 %

WFG stock opened at $79.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.40. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 52 week low of $64.11 and a 52 week high of $90.17. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -65.95 and a beta of 1.19.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.48. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 2.35% and a negative net margin of 1.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.52) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -49.59%.

West Fraser Timber 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.