Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,276,205 West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,276,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,416,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFG. Atlas FRM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,090,600,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the second quarter worth approximately $933,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth $5,893,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth $1,279,000. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter valued at $110,334,000. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 1.6%

WFG opened at $68.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.45 and a beta of 1.00. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 12 month low of $57.34 and a 12 month high of $76.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.74.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.08). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 10.84% and a negative net margin of 22.98%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -8.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WFG shares. Fraser Mackenzie lowered their target price on West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen cut their price target on West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.20.

West Fraser Timber Profile

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.