Scotia Capital Inc. Has $3.66 Million Stock Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. cut its stake in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. by 55%, reducing its ownership to approximately $3.66 million, with a total of 47,575 shares after selling off 58,221 shares in Q1.
• Recent analysts' opinions on WFG vary, with TD Securities lowering their price target from $98.00 to $96.00 while rating it as a "buy" and Wall Street Zen downgrading it from "hold" to "sell".
• West Fraser reported a loss of $0.38 earnings per share last quarter, missing analyst estimates, with total revenue of $1.53 billion compared to expected $1.61 billion.

Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) by 55.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,575 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,221 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. owned about 0.06% of West Fraser Timber worth $3,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 7,588.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Natixis lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 1,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WFG. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities cut their price objective on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on West Fraser Timber from $117.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG opened at $70.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $74.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.08 and a beta of 1.15. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 12-month low of $68.63 and a 12-month high of $102.40.

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 (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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. West Fraser Timber's 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.

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