Analysts Set Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) Target Price at $74.75

Shares of Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.75.

LPX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Louisiana-Pacific from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Louisiana-Pacific from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a report on Tuesday, February 13th.

Louisiana-Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of LPX stock opened at $73.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.99. Louisiana-Pacific has a 12 month low of $49.47 and a 12 month high of $84.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08 and a beta of 1.87.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The building manufacturing company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 15.65% and a net margin of 6.90%. The business had revenue of $658.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Louisiana-Pacific will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Louisiana-Pacific’s payout ratio is 42.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Louisiana-Pacific news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $193,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,995 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,692.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eminence Capital LP lifted its position in Louisiana-Pacific by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,056,991 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $145,697,000 after buying an additional 491,641 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,563,117 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $110,717,000 after purchasing an additional 712,671 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,136,025 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $80,465,000 after purchasing an additional 103,249 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,662,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 796,563 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $44,026,000 after purchasing an additional 291,833 shares in the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.