Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Makes New $2.11 Million Investment in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board invested approximately $2.11 million in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., acquiring 27,429 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• West Fraser Timber Co. reported a quarterly earnings miss with a loss of ($0.38) per share, below the consensus estimate of $0.36, and recorded revenue of $1.53 billion against expected $1.61 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in West Fraser Timber during the same quarter, with hedge funds and institutional ownership now at 40.23% of the company's stock.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 27,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,107,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WFG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,980,619 shares of the company's stock worth $257,974,000 after buying an additional 8,760 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,876,409 shares of the company's stock worth $220,931,000 after buying an additional 29,746 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,162,049 shares of the company's stock worth $187,126,000 after buying an additional 780,313 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 875,815 shares of the company's stock worth $67,385,000 after buying an additional 22,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 639,803 shares of the company's stock worth $55,375,000 after buying an additional 7,712 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WFG shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $117.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Securities lowered their target price on West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:WFG traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $71.29. The stock had a trading volume of 78,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,201. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $68.63 and a 1-year high of $102.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.81 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.38) 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. Equities research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

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

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.