TD Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Stock Price

Key Points

• TD Securities has lowered its price target for West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) from $98.00 to $96.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating a potential upside of 33.15% from the stock's previous close.
• Other analysts have also adjusted their ratings, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering its target to $99.00, and Wall Street Zen reducing its rating from "hold" to "sell."
• West Fraser Timber reported a quarterly loss with earnings per share of ($0.38), well below the consensus estimate of $0.36, leading to a negative return on equity of 0.84%.
• Institutional investors currently own 40.23% of West Fraser Timber's stock, with several hedge funds increasing their stakes in the company recently.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at TD Securities from $98.00 to $96.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Securities' target price indicates a potential upside of 34.49% from the company's current price.

WFG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen cut West Fraser Timber from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on West Fraser Timber from $117.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.38. 253,147 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 226,737. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $74.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.79 and a beta of 1.15. 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 1-year low of $69.48 and a 1-year high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WFG. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the second quarter worth $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 265.1% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 7,588.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.