Raymond James Financial Cuts West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Price Target to $70.00

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has reduced its price target for West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00, indicating a potential upside of only 2.06% based on the stock's previous close.
• Recent ratings from other analysts show a mixed outlook on the stock; while four analysts rate it as a Buy, a notable decrease in targets has occurred from other institutions.
• West Fraser Timber's stock performance has been weak, with an earnings miss reflecting a loss of ($0.38) per share and lower-than-expected revenue of $1.53 billion.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by Raymond James Financial from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's target price indicates a potential upside of 2.06% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. TD Securities cut their price target on 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, Wall Street Zen lowered West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG traded down $0.51 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.59. 159,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,631. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. West Fraser Timber has a 52 week low of $66.36 and a 52 week high of $102.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.82 and a 200 day moving average of $73.32. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.20 and a beta of 1.13.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 0.85% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the 2nd quarter worth $56,870,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 407.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,620 shares of the company's stock worth $66,599,000 after purchasing an additional 728,830 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 202.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 395,101 shares of the company's stock worth $30,399,000 after purchasing an additional 264,322 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 1,075.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 259,303 shares of the company's stock worth $19,007,000 after purchasing an additional 237,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,394,607 shares of the company's stock worth $184,242,000 after purchasing an additional 232,558 shares during the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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