BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Acquires 6,511 Shares of 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 grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) by 25.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,381 shares of the company's stock after purchasing 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.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 1st quarter worth approximately $251,000. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WFG. TD Securities reduced their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.1%

WFG stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $72.86. 217,055 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 258,796. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.63 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $73.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.76. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $68.63 and a 1-year high of $102.40.

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

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.