XTX Topco Ltd Takes Position in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 9,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,005,000 after acquiring an additional 60,823 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the second quarter worth $42,886,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in West Fraser Timber in the first quarter worth $1,011,000. GRS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 455,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,017,000 after acquiring an additional 58,488 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in West Fraser Timber by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 83,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,163,000 after acquiring an additional 22,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.23% of the company’s stock.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

WFG opened at $95.11 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -78.60 and a beta of 1.16. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a 12-month low of $64.11 and a 12-month high of $95.81.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.09). West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. West Fraser Timber’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.237 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is presently -77.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WFG. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on West Fraser Timber from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on West Fraser Timber from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Fraser Timber currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.60.

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.