West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (WFG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 on April 3rd

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (NYSE:WFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

West Fraser Timber has raised its dividend payment by an average of 18.3% per year over the last three years. West Fraser Timber has a payout ratio of 15.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect West Fraser Timber to earn $5.14 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 24.9%.

West Fraser Timber Price Performance

NYSE:WFG opened at $80.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of -62.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.68 and a 200 day moving average of $90.69. West Fraser Timber has a 1-year low of $73.91 and a 1-year high of $102.40.

West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.63. West Fraser Timber had a negative net margin of 1.53% and a positive return on equity of 0.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Fraser Timber will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of West Fraser Timber from $120.00 to $109.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Raymond James cut 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 report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.40.

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.