West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG – Get Rating) saw a sharp drop in short-term interest during the month of July. As of July 31, there was short interest totaling 2,760,000 shares, down 33.5% from the July 15 total of 4,150,000 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 460,300 shares, the day-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

West Fraser Timber Institutional Trading

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently been buying and selling stocks. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in West Fraser Timber by 684.3% in Q1. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the company worth $160,000 after buying 1,697 additional shares in the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL increased its equity stake in West Fraser Timber by 218.8% in Q1. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL now owns 52,600 shares of the company worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 36,100 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings of West Fraser Timber stock by 26,312.7% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 60,485 shares of the company worth $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 60,256 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its equity stake in West Fraser Timber by 221.6% during the 4th quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 17,187 shares in the company worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 11,843 shares during the period. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its equity stake in West Fraser Timber by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,130 shares of the company worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 74.44% of the shares are currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Changes to analyst ratings

WFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered its price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from C$157.00 to C$143.00 in a Friday, June 17 research note. TD Securities raised its price target on shares of West Fraser Timber from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a Wednesday, July 20 research note.

West Fraser Wood Inventory Performance

NYSE: WFG traded down $0.25 at midday Friday, hitting $95.35. The stock recorded a trading volume of 125,148 shares, compared to an average volume of 475,517 shares. West Fraser Timber has a 1 year minimum of $66.24 and a 1 year maximum of $102.96. The company’s fifty-day simple moving average is $86.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.55. The company has a debt ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.59 and a quick ratio of 2.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.58.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG – Get Rating) last released its results on Wednesday, July 27. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $7.59 for the quarter, missing analyst consensus estimates of $8.17 per ($0.58). West Fraser Timber had a net margin of 25.46% and a return on equity of 33.60%. The company posted revenue of $2.89 billion in the quarter, versus analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company posted earnings per share of $12.32. The company’s quarterly revenue fell 23.6% from the same quarter last year. On average, equity research analysts expect West Fraser Timber to post an EPS of 26.46 for the current fiscal year.

West Fraser Timber increases its dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 8. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 22 received a dividend of $0.30. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.20 and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from West Fraser Timber’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 21. West Fraser Timber’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.77%.

Company Profile West Fraser Timber

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West Fraser Timber Co Ltd., a diversified wood products company, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, marketing and distribution of lumber, engineered wood products, pulp, newsprint, wood chips and other residues and renewable energy. It offers spruce-pine-fir and southern yellow pine lumber, treated wood products, medium-density fiberboard and plywood, oriented strand board and laminated veneer products. .

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