West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Short Interest Up 22.5% in May

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, an increase of 22.5% from the April 30th total of 1,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 201,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company's stock are short sold.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

WFG traded down $0.94 on Friday, hitting $74.73. The company had a trading volume of 75,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 177,398. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -355.86 and a beta of 1.17. The company's fifty day moving average price is $74.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.57. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 forecast that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 7,588.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFG. TD Securities cut 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $117.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $100.40.

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.