West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG Shares Purchased by SailingStone Capital Partners LLC

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC raised its position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 57.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 412,177 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,978 shares during the period. West Fraser Timber comprises 5.4% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $27,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth $623,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter valued at about $156,000. QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in West Fraser Timber by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 355,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,091,000 after acquiring an additional 119,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,836,000 after acquiring an additional 465,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered West Fraser Timber from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.20.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE WFG opened at $68.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.44 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.26. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 12 month low of $57.34 and a 12 month high of $76.99.

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

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.