West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. $WFG Shares Bought by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 91.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 799,422 shares during the period. West Fraser Timber accounts for approximately 1.4% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned about 2.12% of West Fraser Timber worth $113,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WFG. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 56.4% during the third quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 2,024 shares in the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $374,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 100,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,379,000 after acquiring an additional 18,055 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 422.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 5,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 34,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:WFG opened at $65.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of -19.66 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 52 week low of $57.34 and a 52 week high of $93.03.

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

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -38.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFG has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised West Fraser Timber from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 26th. CIBC downgraded West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cibc Captl Mkts downgraded shares of West Fraser Timber from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.75.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. (NYSE: WFG) is a leading North American diversified wood products company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates a broad portfolio of manufacturing facilities that produce lumber, engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood, as well as medium density fibreboard (MDF), particleboard, pulp and paper. West Fraser’s integrated production model spans harvesting, milling and finishing, allowing it to serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial construction markets.

Founded in 1955 as West Fraser Mills, the company has grown through both organic investment and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest lumber producers in the world.