West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) Rating Reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $97.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank set a $100.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.92.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $87.00. 55,261 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 122,770. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.43 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $64.11 and a 1-year high of $90.17.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.05. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 2.59% and a positive return on equity of 1.29%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Fraser Timber will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,798,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,319,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,256,000 after purchasing an additional 191,613 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 411.4% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 105,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,630,000 after purchasing an additional 84,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,244,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

About West Fraser Timber

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.