West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) to Post FY2024 Earnings of $6.38 Per Share, Raymond James Forecasts

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Equities researchers at Raymond James boosted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for West Fraser Timber in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now forecasts that the company will earn $6.38 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $5.51. Raymond James has a “Strong-Buy” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $4.10 per share.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price target on West Fraser Timber and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $104.92.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of WFG opened at $81.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.05. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.84 and a beta of 1.15. West Fraser Timber has a 52 week low of $64.11 and a 52 week high of $90.17.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 2.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 15.0% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 32.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 12,853 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 41.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 165,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,651,000 after acquiring an additional 48,652 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 526.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 21,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after acquiring an additional 18,317 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 286.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 89,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,385,000 after buying an additional 66,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -27.91%.

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.