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 better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends and media sentiment.

Do insiders and institutionals 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 insiders. Comparatively, 33.7% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor 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%

Which has higher earnings and 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	-65.40
West Fraser Timber	C$4.36B	1.32	-C$66.55M	-C$1.67	-61.76

Which has more risk and volatility, CIX or WFG?

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

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%

Does the media favor CIX or WFG?

In the previous week, West Fraser Timber had 12 more articles in the media than CI Financial. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for West Fraser Timber and 0 mentions for CI Financial. CI Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.16 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

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 2.6%. 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer CIX or WFG?

CI Financial presently has a consensus price target of C$27.94, suggesting a potential downside of 10.94%. West Fraser Timber has a consensus price target of C$142.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.48%. 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
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 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.