Trexquant Investment LP Acquires New Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., purchasing 9,831 shares valued at approximately $756,000.
• West Fraser Timber reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($0.38) EPS, missing analyst expectations, with revenues of $1.53 billion compared to estimates of $1.61 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, which provides an annualized yield of 1.7% despite a negative payout ratio of -73.14%.

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 200.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 315,019 shares of the company's stock worth $27,265,000 after buying an additional 210,107 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,057 shares of the company's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth about $1,662,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 115,901 shares of the company's stock worth $9,920,000 after buying an additional 41,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company's stock.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of West Fraser Timber stock opened at $75.04 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $68.63 and a 1 year high of $102.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.88 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.56.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WFG. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities decreased 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Monday, July 21st. Four 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.00.

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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