West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 940,800 shares, a growth of 22.5% from the February 28th total of 768,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 179,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company's shares are short sold.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 293,903 shares of the company's stock worth $25,452,000 after purchasing an additional 108,670 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 607,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,565,000 after buying an additional 35,855 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc bought a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 383.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 74,814 shares of the company's stock worth $7,296,000 after acquiring an additional 59,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 853,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,830,000 after purchasing an additional 109,447 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $106.00.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WFG
West Fraser Timber Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE WFG traded down $3.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.01. 208,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 173,593. West Fraser Timber has a 12-month low of $69.00 and a 12-month high of $102.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -332.96 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.26.
West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 0.08%. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Fraser Timber will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.
West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. West Fraser Timber's dividend payout ratio is currently -609.52%.
About West Fraser Timber
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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