West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $71.29 and last traded at $71.56, with a volume of 56339 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WFG shares. TD Securities decreased their target price on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 1.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -350.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.87 and a 200 day moving average of $88.29.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 0.08%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -609.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFG. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 293,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after buying an additional 108,670 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 607,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,565,000 after acquiring an additional 35,855 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 383.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 74,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 853,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,830,000 after purchasing an additional 109,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd., a diversified wood products company, engages in manufacturing, selling, marketing, and distributing lumber, engineered wood products, pulp, newsprint, wood chips, and other residuals and renewable energy. It offers spruce-pine-fir, douglas fir-larch, hem-fir, and southern yellow pine lumber, treated wood products, medium density fiberboard panels and plywood, oriented strand board, and laminated veneer lumber wood products, as well as particleboards.