Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Stock Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in West Fraser Timber by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 126,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,723,000 after acquiring an additional 11,924 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 4,061 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 44.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 112,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,650,000 after buying an additional 34,599 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,836,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,394,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,242,000 after buying an additional 232,558 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities cut their target price on West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Monday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $70.53 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.66. The stock has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of -40.30 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.89. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a one year low of $66.36 and a one year high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a negative return on equity of 0.85%. On average, analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -73.14%.

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.