West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $85.20 According to Analysts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.20.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WFG shares. Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFG. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,900,000 after acquiring an additional 150,978 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at about $623,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $156,000. Finally, QV Investors Inc. boosted 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 worth $24,091,000 after acquiring an additional 119,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG opened at $70.77 on Friday. West Fraser Timber has a 12-month low of $57.34 and a 12-month high of $76.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.58 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during 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, equities analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber will post -3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 29th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.29%.

About West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. is a diversified forest products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1955, the company has grown from a regional lumber producer into an international manufacturer and marketer of wood products, pulp and paper.

West Fraser produces dimensional lumber, engineered wood products, oriented strand board, plywood, pulp, newsprint and specialty papers. Its products are used in residential and commercial construction, repair and remodeling, packaging, printing and other industrial applications.