West Fraser Timber (WFG) Competitors

CI Financial (TSE:CIX) and West Fraser Timber (TSE:WFG) are both mid-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, community ranking and risk.

Which has more risk and volatility, CIX or WFG?

CI Financial has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Fraser Timber has a beta of 2.03, indicating that its stock price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CIX or WFG a better dividend stock?

CI Financial pays an annual dividend of C$0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. West Fraser Timber pays an annual dividend of C$1.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. CI Financial pays out -166.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. West Fraser Timber pays out -103.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. CI Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CI Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, CIX or WFG?

West Fraser Timber has higher revenue and earnings than CI Financial. CI Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than West Fraser Timber, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CI Financial	C$3.57B	1.27	-C$69.09M	-C$0.48	-65.46
West Fraser Timber	C$4.36B	1.30	-C$66.55M	-C$1.67	-60.76

Does the media favor CIX or WFG?

In the previous week, CI Financial had 1 more articles in the media than West Fraser Timber. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for CI Financial and 0 mentions for West Fraser Timber. CI Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat West Fraser Timber's score of 0.40 indicating that CI Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
CI Financial	Positive
West Fraser Timber	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CIX or WFG?

CI Financial received 375 more outperform votes than West Fraser Timber when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.48% of users gave West Fraser Timber an outperform vote while only 57.96% of users gave CI Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CI Financial	Outperform Votes 448 57.96%	Underperform Votes 325 42.04%
West Fraser Timber	Outperform Votes 73 63.48%	Underperform Votes 42 36.52%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in CIX or WFG?

15.0% of CI Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.4% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by institutional investors. 15.8% of CI Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 33.7% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CIX or WFG more profitable?

West Fraser Timber has a net margin of -1.53% compared to CI Financial's net margin of -1.94%. West Fraser Timber's return on equity of -1.33% beat CI Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CI Financial	-1.94%	-7.54%	4.87%
West Fraser Timber	-1.53%	-1.33%	2.18%

Do analysts rate CIX or WFG?

CI Financial presently has a consensus target price of C$29.36, suggesting a potential downside of 6.51%. West Fraser Timber has a consensus target price of C$142.00, suggesting a potential upside of 39.74%. Given West Fraser Timber's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe West Fraser Timber is more favorable than CI Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CI Financial	2 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75
West Fraser Timber	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50

Summary

West Fraser Timber beats CI Financial on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.