Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 228 Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,202 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $1,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 82.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 37.2% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 5,686 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 0.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 71,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,966,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the third quarter valued at about $587,000. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

WFG stock opened at $77.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -371.24 and a beta of 1.23. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $73.91 and a 1-year high of $102.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.03.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -609.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut their price target on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price target on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

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.