Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 73,335 Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 306,463 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 73,335 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.39% of West Fraser Timber worth $26,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in West Fraser Timber in the fourth quarter worth about $81,605,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 317,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,453,000 after acquiring an additional 119,841 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 853,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,830,000 after acquiring an additional 109,447 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 293,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after purchasing an additional 108,670 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of West Fraser Timber by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 281,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,352,000 after purchasing an additional 44,424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on WFG shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities dropped their price target on West Fraser Timber from $110.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFG opened at $73.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -349.08 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.72. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 1-year low of $69.48 and a 1-year high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -609.52%.

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.