West Fraser Timber (WFG) Competitors

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) and West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Is LPX or WFG a better dividend stock?

Louisiana-Pacific pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. West Fraser Timber pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Louisiana-Pacific pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. West Fraser Timber pays out -752.9% 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. Louisiana-Pacific has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and West Fraser Timber has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. West Fraser Timber is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, LPX or WFG?

Louisiana-Pacific has a beta of 1.84, indicating that its share price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Fraser Timber has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LPX or WFG more profitable?

Louisiana-Pacific has a net margin of 13.74% compared to West Fraser Timber's net margin of 0.03%. Louisiana-Pacific's return on equity of 23.75% beat West Fraser Timber's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Louisiana-Pacific	13.74%	23.75%	15.50%
West Fraser Timber	0.03%	0.99%	0.78%

Do analysts rate LPX or WFG?

Louisiana-Pacific currently has a consensus target price of $106.63, indicating a potential upside of 18.52%. West Fraser Timber has a consensus target price of $100.40, indicating a potential upside of 32.63%. Given West Fraser Timber's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe West Fraser Timber is more favorable than Louisiana-Pacific.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Louisiana-Pacific	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
West Fraser Timber	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor LPX or WFG?

In the previous week, Louisiana-Pacific had 9 more articles in the media than West Fraser Timber. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Louisiana-Pacific and 4 mentions for West Fraser Timber. West Fraser Timber's average media sentiment score of 0.77 beat Louisiana-Pacific's score of 0.60 indicating that West Fraser Timber is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Louisiana-Pacific	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
West Fraser Timber	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, LPX or WFG?

Louisiana-Pacific has higher earnings, but lower revenue than West Fraser Timber. West Fraser Timber is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Louisiana-Pacific, 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
Louisiana-Pacific	$2.94B	2.13	$420M	$5.70	15.78
West Fraser Timber	$6.17B	0.94	-$5M	-$0.17	-445.29

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of LPX or WFG?

94.7% of Louisiana-Pacific shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.2% of West Fraser Timber shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Louisiana-Pacific shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of West Fraser Timber shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Louisiana-Pacific beats West Fraser Timber on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.