Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $125.00 target price on the building manufacturing company's stock.

LPX has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. TD Securities lifted their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Louisiana-Pacific from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, November 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.00.

Louisiana-Pacific Price Performance

Louisiana-Pacific stock traded down $2.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $98.78. The stock had a trading volume of 995,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 671,279. Louisiana-Pacific has a one year low of $67.47 and a one year high of $122.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.95. The firm's 50 day moving average is $110.24 and its 200 day moving average is $106.49.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The building manufacturing company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $681.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.75 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Louisiana-Pacific will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Louisiana-Pacific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Louisiana-Pacific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.69%.

Insider Transactions at Louisiana-Pacific

In related news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $283,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,513 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,225.50. This trade represents a 11.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Louisiana-Pacific

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LPX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific by 98.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 318 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 349 shares of the building manufacturing company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.