West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James dropped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on West Fraser Timber from $117.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $99.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.40.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 1.3%

WFG opened at $75.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -361.10 and a beta of 1.17. West Fraser Timber has a 52 week low of $69.48 and a 52 week high of $102.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.13.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.15). West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 0.08%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,041,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,861,000 after buying an additional 1,319,843 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth $81,605,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,162,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,126,000 after buying an additional 780,313 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 202.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 395,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,399,000 after purchasing an additional 264,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 200.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 315,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,265,000 after buying an additional 210,107 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.