West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Reaches New 52-Week High at $91.75

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $91.75 and last traded at $91.74, with a volume of 64728 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $90.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $105.60.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 0.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.45 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $85.22 and its 200-day moving average is $81.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.09). West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. West Fraser Timber’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.237 per share. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is presently -77.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,813,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,820,000 after purchasing an additional 28,399 shares in the last quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,134,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,533,000 after purchasing an additional 9,336 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 18.4% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 989,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,053,000 after purchasing an additional 153,600 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,413,000. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 15.2% in the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 692,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,229,000 after purchasing an additional 91,490 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.