West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 (NYSE:WFG)

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

West Fraser Timber has increased its dividend payment by an average of 18.3% annually over the last three years. West Fraser Timber has a payout ratio of 15.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect West Fraser Timber to earn $5.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.9%.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WFG traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $79.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 274,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,923. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.47 and a beta of 1.22. West Fraser Timber has a 1 year low of $73.91 and a 1 year high of $102.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.64.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 1.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Securities lowered their price target on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Raymond James lowered their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $109.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $107.80.

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.