11,878 Shares in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG Acquired by Brandes Investment Partners LP

Brandes Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,171,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,755,000 after buying an additional 22,179 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 2,712 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 25,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after buying an additional 5,192 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 367,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,430,000 after buying an additional 78,862 shares during the period. Finally, One Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 1.1%

WFG opened at $66.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.39 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.29 and its 200-day moving average is $65.01. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 52-week low of $57.34 and a 52-week high of $78.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($2.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 21.86% and a negative return on equity of 9.67%. Analysts expect that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on WFG shares. Fraser Mackenzie cut their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.60.

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.