Scotiabank Lowers Earnings Estimates for West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Equities research analysts at Scotiabank reduced their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for West Fraser Timber in a research report issued on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson now expects that the company will post earnings per share of ($0.45) for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of ($0.16). The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $2.03 per share.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.60.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.5 %

WFG opened at $94.54 on Thursday. West Fraser Timber has a twelve month low of $64.11 and a twelve month high of $102.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $92.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.25. The stock has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.60 and a beta of 1.16.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 3.83%. West Fraser Timber’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $0.237 per share. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is currently 60.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Fraser Timber

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in West Fraser Timber by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,813,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,820,000 after buying an additional 28,399 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the first quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the first quarter valued at approximately $9,581,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 49.2% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 73,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,345,000 after purchasing an additional 24,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber in the first quarter worth $103,000. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

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.