West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. to Post FY2025 Earnings of $9.20 Per Share, Raymond James Forecasts (NYSE:WFG)

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) – Equities research analysts at Raymond James lifted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for West Fraser Timber in a research report issued on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $9.20 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $9.15. Raymond James currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for West Fraser Timber’s current full-year earnings is $4.10 per share.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 2.59% and a positive return on equity of 1.29%.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on WFG. TD Securities increased their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of West Fraser Timber in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.25.

West Fraser Timber Stock Performance

Shares of WFG stock opened at $78.42 on Monday. West Fraser Timber has a 52 week low of $64.11 and a 52 week high of $90.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.62. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.26.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,785,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,065,000 after buying an additional 39,929 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 16.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 47.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,244,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in West Fraser Timber during the third quarter worth about $1,798,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $168,256,000 after purchasing an additional 191,613 shares in the last quarter. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.