Raymond James Has Pessimistic View of WFG FY2024 Earnings

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Raymond James dropped their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of West Fraser Timber in a note issued to investors on Monday, October 21st. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now expects that the company will post earnings of $1.73 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.57. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber's current full-year earnings is $2.03 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for West Fraser Timber's FY2025 earnings at $6.07 EPS.

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

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on WFG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $107.60.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 1.0 %

WFG stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.50. The stock had a trading volume of 211,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 159,411. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.22 and a beta of 1.16. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $64.11 and a 1-year high of $102.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFG. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 1.6% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 34,466 shares of the company's stock worth $3,285,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth $12,370,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 880 shares of the company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 571,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,683,000 after buying an additional 39,651 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $687,000 after buying an additional 2,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company's stock.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.237 per share. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.90%.

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.