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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WFG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, October 26th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. TD Securities cut their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut West Fraser Timber from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 1.4%

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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.95 and a beta of 1.12.

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 the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by ($0.91). West Fraser Timber had a negative return on equity of 2.63% and a negative net margin of 4.35%.The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 275,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,749,000 after acquiring an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 58,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 5,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,671,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,656,000 after acquiring an additional 799,422 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.