West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $97.00 price target on the stock.

WFG has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank set a $100.00 target price on West Fraser Timber and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Raymond James lifted their target price on West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $104.92.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

West Fraser Timber stock opened at $86.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.26. West Fraser Timber has a one year low of $64.11 and a one year high of $90.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.42.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.05. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is presently -27.91%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth approximately $116,809,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth approximately $79,179,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 599.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 906,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,845,000 after buying an additional 776,605 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 7,654.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 594,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,877,000 after buying an additional 587,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,818,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,239,000 after purchasing an additional 499,381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

About West Fraser Timber

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.