Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $112.94, but opened at $105.99. Louisiana-Pacific shares last traded at $104.33, with a volume of 138,773 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities raised their price target on Louisiana-Pacific from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Louisiana-Pacific from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Louisiana-Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.38.

Louisiana-Pacific Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $111.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.95.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last announced 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 return on equity of 24.50% and a net margin of 14.29%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Louisiana-Pacific Co. will post 5.64 EPS for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is a positive change from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Louisiana-Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 17.93%.

Insider Activity at Louisiana-Pacific

In other Louisiana-Pacific news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $283,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,513 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,225.50. This represents a 11.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 318 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 349 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Louisiana-Pacific during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Louisiana-Pacific by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 430 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Company 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.