Emerald Advisers LLC Lowers Stake in Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX)

Emerald Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX - Free Report) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 239,438 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock after selling 77,803 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Louisiana-Pacific worth $24,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,087,989 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock valued at $733,961,000 after purchasing an additional 132,891 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 25.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,167,946 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock worth $340,427,000 after acquiring an additional 638,058 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 10.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,154,561 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock worth $231,529,000 after acquiring an additional 210,113 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 32.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 662,496 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock valued at $71,192,000 after acquiring an additional 162,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 613,752 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock valued at $63,554,000 after purchasing an additional 19,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company's stock.

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Louisiana-Pacific Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LPX traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.25. 544,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,531. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $105.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.02. Louisiana-Pacific Co. has a 12-month low of $71.39 and a 12-month high of $122.87.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The building manufacturing company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.24. Louisiana-Pacific had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 25.35%. The firm had revenue of $681.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $666.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Louisiana-Pacific's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from Louisiana-Pacific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Louisiana-Pacific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LPX. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Louisiana-Pacific from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $123.00 to $117.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.50.

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.