West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Shares Gap Down to $81.34

Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $81.34, but opened at $79.61. West Fraser Timber shares last traded at $82.15, with a volume of 7,849 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price target on West Fraser Timber and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $104.92.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of -38.80 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.13.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.05. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio is presently -27.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at $78,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in West Fraser Timber in the third quarter valued at $112,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 8.4% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company's stock.

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.