West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.67.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of WFG stock opened at $65.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.35 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. West Fraser Timber has a 12 month low of $57.34 and a 12 month high of $80.73.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported ($2.42) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.71) by $0.29. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 5.69% and a negative net margin of 17.15%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is -10.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,613,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,799,000 after buying an additional 802,477 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,129,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,261,000 after purchasing an additional 135,472 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,174,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,829,000 after purchasing an additional 22,443 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,836,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,668,000 after buying an additional 116,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,656,000 after buying an additional 799,422 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.