Addenda Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Addenda Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also 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 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,785,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,065,000 after purchasing an additional 39,929 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 16.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,005,000 after acquiring an additional 60,823 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 47.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,244,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Finally, GRS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 455,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,017,000 after acquiring an additional 58,488 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $76.89 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.33. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $64.11 and a 1-year high of $90.17.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.48. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 1.39% and a positive return on equity of 2.35%. West Fraser Timber’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.52) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 26th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is currently -105.78%.

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.