Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 14,075 Shares of Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,970 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,075 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Louisiana-Pacific were worth $22,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LPX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,087,989 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $733,961,000 after buying an additional 132,891 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Louisiana-Pacific by 10.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,154,561 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $231,529,000 after acquiring an additional 210,113 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $78,181,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 613,752 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $63,554,000 after purchasing an additional 19,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 6.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 500,374 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $51,984,000 after purchasing an additional 30,297 shares in the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Louisiana-Pacific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LPX opened at $80.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.79. Louisiana-Pacific Co. has a 12 month low of $71.39 and a 12 month high of $122.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The building manufacturing company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.24. Louisiana-Pacific had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 25.35%. The company had revenue of $681.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $666.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LPX shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities dropped their price target on Louisiana-Pacific from $123.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Louisiana-Pacific Profile

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.