Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Cuts Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. reduced its holdings in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. by 42.3% in the first quarter, leaving them with 30,367 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently made significant changes to their positions in West Fraser, with LPL Financial LLC increasing its stake by 46.6% during the last quarter.
• The stock has received varying analyst ratings, with TD Securities lowering its price target from $98 to $96 while maintaining a buy rating, and Wall Street Zen downgrading to a sell.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its position in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) by 42.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,367 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,306 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $2,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 7,588.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Natixis raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 61.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 1,605 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the company's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 1,396.5% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 2,993 shares of the company's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.80. 32,524 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,269. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a twelve month low of $68.63 and a twelve month high of $102.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.17 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 0.85% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. Research analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio is presently -73.14%.

West Fraser Timber 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.