Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $112.94, but opened at $105.99. Louisiana-Pacific shares last traded at $104.33, with a volume of 138,773 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $123.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Louisiana-Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.00.

Louisiana-Pacific Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.44.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The building manufacturing company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $681.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.75 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 25.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is 17.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Louisiana-Pacific news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $283,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,101,225.50. This represents a 11.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LPX. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 318 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 158.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 349 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 430 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

About Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.