Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) by 56.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,162,049 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 780,313 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.78% of West Fraser Timber worth $187,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 293,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,452,000 after buying an additional 108,670 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in West Fraser Timber by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 607,438 shares of the company's stock worth $52,565,000 after buying an additional 35,855 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth approximately $412,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 853,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,830,000 after acquiring an additional 109,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company's stock.

West Fraser Timber Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE WFG traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.05. 43,128 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 174,580. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $69.48 and a 1-year high of $102.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.97. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -357.50 and a beta of 1.21.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber's payout ratio is -752.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $99.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reduced their price target on West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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, Scotiabank reduced their target price on West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.40.

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.