West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Short Interest Up 69,900.0% in July

Key Points

• Short interest in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. rose dramatically by 69,900.0% in July, reaching a total of 1,470,000 shares, indicating heightened investor concern.
• The company reported a loss of ($0.38) EPS for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of a profit, and had revenues of $1.53 billion against expectations of $1.61 billion.
• West Fraser Timber has a dividend yield of 1.8%, with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.32, though its payout ratio stands at -73.14%, indicating potential sustainability concerns.

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,470,000 shares, anincreaseof69,900.0% from the June 30th total of 2,100 shares. Currently,2.8% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 202,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 202,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.3 days. Currently,2.8% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 10.4% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 126,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,723,000 after buying an additional 11,924 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 33.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 4,061 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 18.3% in the first quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,836,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,846,663 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,652,000 after buying an additional 12,874 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WFG. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $117.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities lowered their target price on West Fraser Timber from $98.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WFG traded up $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $70.55. 13,428 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 203,899. West Fraser Timber has a 12 month low of $68.63 and a 12 month high of $102.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of -40.28 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.81. 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 (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.74). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 0.85% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Research analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. West Fraser Timber's payout ratio is -73.14%.

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.