BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp has increased its stake in West Fraser Timber by 25.2%, now owning 32,381 shares valued at approximately $2.49 million.
• West Fraser Timber recently reported earnings of ($0.38) per share, underperforming expectations, as well as a quarterly revenue of $1.53 billion, below the anticipated $1.61 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.7%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of -73.14%.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,381 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,511 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $2,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WFG. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in West Fraser Timber by 7,588.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in West Fraser Timber by 6.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in West Fraser Timber by 1,396.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the first quarter worth approximately $251,000. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE WFG traded up $0.05 on Monday, hitting $72.86. The stock had a trading volume of 217,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 258,796. The business's fifty day moving average price is $73.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.61. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 52-week low of $68.63 and a 52-week high of $102.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.63 and a beta of 1.15.

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

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. West Fraser Timber's payout ratio is currently -73.14%.

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.