West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on WFG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cibc Captl Mkts cut shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. CIBC downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Securities lowered their target price on West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on West Fraser Timber from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WFG opened at $70.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.32. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $57.34 and a 1-year high of $93.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.91 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.49 and a 200 day moving average of $67.49.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by ($0.91). West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 4.35% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. On average, research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -38.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WFG. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 265.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 552 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 212.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 346.6% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

About West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. (NYSE: WFG) is a leading North American diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates a broad portfolio of manufacturing facilities that produce lumber, engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, as well as medium density fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, pulp and paper. West Fraser’s integrated production model spans harvesting, milling and finishing, allowing it to serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial construction markets.

Founded in 1955 as West Fraser Mills, the company has grown through both organic investment and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest lumber producers in the world.