West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Sets New 1-Year High at $96.34

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $96.34 and last traded at $96.09, with a volume of 16491 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WFG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.60.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of -80.17 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.237 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -77.69%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth about $76,413,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth about $52,645,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,886,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 178.5% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 835,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,236,000 after purchasing an additional 535,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 161.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 509,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,597,000 after buying an additional 314,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Company 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.