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

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Louisiana-Pacific from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $97.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Louisiana-Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:LPX opened at $77.87 on Thursday. Louisiana-Pacific has a 1 year low of $73.42 and a 1 year high of $102.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.78 and a 200-day moving average of $87.43.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The building manufacturing company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $567.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.96 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 5.39%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Louisiana-Pacific will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Louisiana-Pacific’s payout ratio is 53.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William Bradley Southern sold 14,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.29, for a total transaction of $1,264,882.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 461,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,226,889.51. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F Nicholas Grasberger III purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $85.49 per share, with a total value of $1,709,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 38,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,330,177.46. This represents a 105.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 155,842 shares of company stock valued at $13,912,978 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Louisiana-Pacific

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPX. North Ridge Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Louisiana-Pacific in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 34.3% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 497 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 291.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 536 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Louisiana-Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Company Profile

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE: LPX) is a leading manufacturer of building materials and engineered wood products for residential, industrial and light commercial construction. The company produces a diverse portfolio of products, including oriented strand board (OSB), engineered wood siding, trim, molding, sheathing panels and subflooring. Its flagship product lines, such as LP® SmartSide® trim and siding, are designed to offer enhanced durability, moisture resistance and ease of installation, helping builders and homeowners achieve long-lasting performance in a variety of climates.

Founded in 1973 as a spin-off from Georgia-Pacific, Louisiana-Pacific established its reputation by pioneering innovative manufacturing techniques for OSB, becoming one of the first companies to bring the product to market in the 1980s.