West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG Shares Acquired by QV Investors Inc.

Key Points

• QV Investors increased its West Fraser Timber stake by 50.8% in the second quarter, holding 355,987 shares worth about $24.1 million, or approximately 0.45% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a mixed outlook, with four Buy, three Hold and one Sell rating; the consensus is Hold with an $83.20 price target versus the stock’s $68.06 opening price.
• West Fraser reported a quarterly loss of $0.78 per share, missing expectations, on revenue of $1.43 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.32, equivalent to a 1.9% annual yield.

QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) by 50.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 355,987 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 119,945 shares during the quarter. West Fraser Timber accounts for 1.9% of QV Investors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. QV Investors Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of West Fraser Timber worth $24,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFG. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 72.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. EFG International AG purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 177.0% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 579 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Aegis Financial Corp purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a "neutral" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded West Fraser Timber from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.20.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of WFG stock opened at $68.06 on Monday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $68.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 0.83. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $57.34 and a 1-year high of $76.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.41 and a beta of 1.00.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 10.84% and a negative net margin of 22.98%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post -3.77 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.29%.

West Fraser Timber Profile

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. NYSE: WFG is a leading North American diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates a broad portfolio of manufacturing facilities that produce lumber, engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, as well as medium density fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, pulp and paper. West Fraser's integrated production model spans harvesting, milling and finishing, allowing it to serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial construction markets.

Founded in 1955 as West Fraser Mills, the company has grown through both organic investment and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest lumber producers in the world.

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