Equities Analysts Set Expectations for West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:WFG)

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Raymond James cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for West Fraser Timber in a report issued on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $5.31 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $5.52. Raymond James currently 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 $3.56 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for West Fraser Timber’s FY2025 earnings at $9.43 EPS.

WFG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank set a $100.00 target price on West Fraser Timber and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 0.2 %

WFG opened at $78.75 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.33. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.08 and a beta of 1.15. West Fraser Timber has a one year low of $64.11 and a one year high of $90.17.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.48. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 2.35% and a negative net margin of 1.39%. West Fraser Timber’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.52) earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,785,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,065,000 after acquiring an additional 39,929 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 16.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 47.6% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,244,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber in the third quarter valued at $1,798,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 9.0% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,319,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,256,000 after purchasing an additional 191,613 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -49.59%.

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.