West Fraser Timber (WFG) Competitors

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) and James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, WFG or JHX?

James Hardie Industries has lower revenue, but higher earnings than West Fraser Timber. West Fraser Timber is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than James Hardie Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Fraser Timber	$6.17B	0.93	-$5M	-$0.21	-355.10
James Hardie Industries	$3.91B	2.45	$510.20M	$1.01	22.10

Does the media favor WFG or JHX?

In the previous week, West Fraser Timber had 5 more articles in the media than James Hardie Industries. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for West Fraser Timber and 4 mentions for James Hardie Industries. West Fraser Timber's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat James Hardie Industries' score of 0.69 indicating that West Fraser Timber is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
West Fraser Timber	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
James Hardie Industries	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WFG or JHX more profitable?

James Hardie Industries has a net margin of 11.15% compared to West Fraser Timber's net margin of -0.08%. James Hardie Industries' return on equity of 33.65% beat West Fraser Timber's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Fraser Timber	-0.08%	0.88%	0.69%
James Hardie Industries	11.15%	33.65%	13.44%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WFG or JHX?

James Hardie Industries received 202 more outperform votes than West Fraser Timber when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 76.92% of users gave West Fraser Timber an outperform vote while only 61.17% of users gave James Hardie Industries an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
West Fraser Timber	Outperform Votes 50 76.92%	Underperform Votes 15 23.08%
James Hardie Industries	Outperform Votes 252 61.17%	Underperform Votes 160 38.83%

Do analysts rate WFG or JHX?

West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus price target of $106.00, indicating a potential upside of 42.15%. James Hardie Industries has a consensus price target of $42.45, indicating a potential upside of 90.19%. Given James Hardie Industries' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than West Fraser Timber.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Fraser Timber	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
James Hardie Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WFG or JHX?

40.2% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WFG or JHX a better dividend stock?

West Fraser Timber pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. James Hardie Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. West Fraser Timber pays out -609.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. James Hardie Industries pays out 20.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. West Fraser Timber is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, WFG or JHX?

West Fraser Timber has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.8, indicating that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats West Fraser Timber on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.