Brokerages Set West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Price Target at $105.60

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $105.60.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WFG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $91.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.78. West Fraser Timber has a 52-week low of $64.11 and a 52-week high of $91.91. The firm has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of -75.80 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.33.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.03%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is presently -106.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,813,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,820,000 after acquiring an additional 28,399 shares in the last quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,134,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,533,000 after buying an additional 9,336 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 18.4% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 989,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,053,000 after purchasing an additional 153,600 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at $76,413,000. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 15.2% in the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 692,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,229,000 after purchasing an additional 91,490 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., 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.