West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Short Interest Update

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 656,900 shares, a decrease of 19.4% from the August 15th total of 815,400 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 188,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WFG shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,005,000 after purchasing an additional 60,823 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber in the second quarter valued at about $42,886,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in West Fraser Timber during the first quarter worth about $1,011,000. GRS Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 455,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,017,000 after purchasing an additional 58,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 83,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,163,000 after purchasing an additional 22,438 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WFG traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $92.36. The company had a trading volume of 60,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,682. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.78. West Fraser Timber has a one year low of $64.11 and a one year high of $93.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of -76.06 and a beta of 1.16.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $0.237 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -106.61%.

West Fraser Timber Company Profile

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.