West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $78.61, but opened at $82.05. West Fraser Timber shares last traded at $79.89, with a volume of 51,214 shares trading hands.
The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.48. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 2.59% and a positive return on equity of 1.29%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.52) EPS. The company's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis.
West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio is currently -27.91%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently commented on WFG. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price target on shares of West Fraser Timber and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.25.
View Our Latest Analysis on West Fraser Timber
Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,785,571 shares of the company's stock worth $202,065,000 after acquiring an additional 39,929 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,248 shares of the company's stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company's stock worth $11,244,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 3rd quarter worth $1,798,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in West Fraser Timber by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,319,488 shares of the company's stock worth $168,256,000 after acquiring an additional 191,613 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
West Fraser Timber Stock Performance
The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.61 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.26. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $81.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.70.
About West Fraser Timber
(
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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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