Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Louisiana-Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on Louisiana-Pacific in a report on Monday, October 20th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Louisiana-Pacific has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.33.

Louisiana-Pacific Price Performance

LPX opened at $77.96 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.80. Louisiana-Pacific has a 52 week low of $76.25 and a 52 week high of $122.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.84.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The building manufacturing company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $663.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Louisiana-Pacific will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Louisiana-Pacific news, Director Stephen E. Macadam bought 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $78.06 per share, with a total value of $249,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,212,090.94. This trade represents a 8.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Louisiana-Pacific

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Louisiana-Pacific in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. North Ridge Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Louisiana-Pacific during the second quarter worth $34,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific during the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 34.3% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 497 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Company Profile

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.