West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (WFG) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 14th

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

West Fraser Timber has raised its dividend by an average of 18.3% annually over the last three years. West Fraser Timber has a payout ratio of 16.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect West Fraser Timber to earn $7.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.0%.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

WFG opened at $76.21 on Wednesday. West Fraser Timber has a fifty-two week low of $73.91 and a fifty-two week high of $102.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -362.89 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Securities reduced their target price on West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of West Fraser Timber from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

West Fraser Timber Company 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.