West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $59.31 and last traded at $60.14, with a volume of 188150 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WFG. Zacks Research lowered West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price target on West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.95 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported ($2.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by ($0.91). The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 4.35%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 25th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is currently -38.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,876,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,931,000 after buying an additional 29,746 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 10.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,394,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,242,000 after buying an additional 232,558 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 91.6% in the third quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,656,000 after buying an additional 799,422 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 15.2% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,642,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,388,000 after buying an additional 217,304 shares during the period. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,118,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,883,000 after purchasing an additional 26,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.