West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Upgraded at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFGFree Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Raymond James Financial currently has $85.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $75.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WFG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of West Fraser Timber from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.20.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WFG

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $72.78 on Tuesday. West Fraser Timber has a twelve month low of $57.34 and a twelve month high of $76.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.71 and a beta of 1.00.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFGGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 10.84% and a negative net margin of 22.98%. Analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber will post -3.8 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -8.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,450,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,306,000 after purchasing an additional 321,102 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the second quarter valued at approximately $110,334,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the second quarter valued at approximately $86,416,000. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.9% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.5% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 867,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,511,000 after buying an additional 21,224 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. is a diversified forest products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1955, the company has grown from a regional lumber producer into an international manufacturer and marketer of wood products, pulp and paper.

West Fraser produces dimensional lumber, engineered wood products, oriented strand board, plywood, pulp, newsprint and specialty papers. Its products are used in residential and commercial construction, repair and remodeling, packaging, printing and other industrial applications.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG)

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