West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) Declares $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

West Fraser Timber has increased its dividend payment by an average of 18.3% per year over the last three years. West Fraser Timber has a payout ratio of 15.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect West Fraser Timber to earn $5.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.9%.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of WFG stock traded down $3.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.45. 392,570 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 179,279. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.77. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of -62.85 and a beta of 1.22. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $73.91 and a 1-year high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 1.53%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut their target price on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $109.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.40.

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.