Royal Bank Of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Stock Price

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 29.19% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of West Fraser Timber from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.20.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE WFG traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $64.24. The company had a trading volume of 189,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,244. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.61 and its 200 day moving average is $66.77. West Fraser Timber has a 52-week low of $57.34 and a 52-week high of $76.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.16 and a beta of 1.00.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.78) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.08). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 10.63% and a negative net margin of 22.98%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post -3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 72.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 192,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,537,000 after buying an additional 57,919 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,450,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,306,000 after buying an additional 321,102 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 47,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,115,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About West Fraser Timber

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.