West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WFG. Cibc Captl Mkts cut shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Zacks Research upgraded West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 265.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 212.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 780 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 346.6% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $70.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.91 and a beta of 1.11. West Fraser Timber has a 12-month low of $57.34 and a 12-month high of $93.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by ($0.91). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 4.35%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -38.21%.

About West Fraser Timber

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.