Alberta Investment Management Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG)

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) by 58.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 293,903 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,670 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in West Fraser Timber were worth $25,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFG. FMR LLC grew 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 buying an additional 266,298 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 254,220 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Fraser Timber by 4,057.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 193,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,321,000 after buying an additional 189,092 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 138,871 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Fraser Timber during the third quarter valued at approximately $12,370,000. 40.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WFG. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, West Fraser Timber currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.00.

West Fraser Timber Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WFG opened at $80.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.59. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $73.91 and a fifty-two week high of $102.40. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -382.84 and a beta of 1.22.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts forecast that West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. West Fraser Timber’s payout ratio is -609.52%.

West Fraser Timber Profile

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.