Creative Planning Grows Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 76.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,158 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,813,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,820,000 after buying an additional 28,399 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 989,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,053,000 after buying an additional 153,600 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 692,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,229,000 after buying an additional 91,490 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,645,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,886,000. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

NYSE:WFG opened at $97.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of -80.66 and a beta of 1.16. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $64.11 and a fifty-two week high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. West Fraser Timber had a return on equity of 3.83% and a net margin of 2.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $0.237 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is currently -77.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

West Fraser Timber 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.