West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Price Target Raised to $85.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) had its price target upped by Royal Bank Of Canada from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective 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. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Fraser Mackenzie lowered their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.60.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $70.35 on Friday. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $57.34 and a 1-year high of $76.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.68 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($2.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($1.17). West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 21.86% and a negative return on equity of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 230,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,764,000 after buying an additional 6,640 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 9.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,248,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 114,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,419 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.1% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Company 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.