JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 66,829 Shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 246,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,829 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $24,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WFG. FMR LLC raised its holdings in West Fraser Timber by 22.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,447,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,047,000 after acquiring an additional 266,298 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 989,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,053,000 after purchasing an additional 153,600 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 37.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 939,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,429,000 after acquiring an additional 254,220 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in West Fraser Timber by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 571,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,683,000 after purchasing an additional 39,651 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Fraser Timber by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 305,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,777,000 after buying an additional 4,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WFG opened at $85.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.54 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.11. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 52-week low of $73.91 and a 52-week high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported ($1.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.87). West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 1.53% and a positive return on equity of 0.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

West Fraser Timber Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from West Fraser Timber’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is presently -100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFG. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.60.

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.