Brokers Issue Forecasts for WFG Q4 Earnings

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Research analysts at Scotiabank issued their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of West Fraser Timber in a report released on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson expects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.06 for the quarter. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $1.59 per share.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WFG. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James cut West Fraser Timber from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $113.60.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

WFG stock opened at $92.02 on Wednesday. West Fraser Timber has a one year low of $73.91 and a one year high of $102.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $90.52 and a 200-day moving average of $89.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a PE ratio of -71.89 and a beta of 1.22.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported ($1.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.87). The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. West Fraser Timber had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 1.53%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS.

West Fraser Timber Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from West Fraser Timber’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -100.00%.

Institutional Trading of West Fraser Timber

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFG. FMR LLC increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 22.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,447,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,047,000 after purchasing an additional 266,298 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 939,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,429,000 after buying an additional 254,220 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 4,057.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 193,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,321,000 after buying an additional 189,092 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in West Fraser Timber by 128.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,087,000 after acquiring an additional 138,871 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth about $12,370,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.