Comparing Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR)

Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR) and Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Extra Space Storage and Rayonier, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Extra Space Storage	0	10	6	0	2.38
Rayonier	1	4	0	1	2.17

Extra Space Storage presently has a consensus price target of $147.73, suggesting a potential downside of 1.41%. Rayonier has a consensus price target of $24.60, suggesting a potential upside of 12.29%. Given Rayonier’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Rayonier is more favorable than Extra Space Storage.

Volatility & Risk

Extra Space Storage has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rayonier has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Extra Space Storage and Rayonier’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Extra Space Storage	27.80%	6.70%	3.27%
Rayonier	68.61%	3.61%	2.41%

Dividends

Extra Space Storage pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Rayonier pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Extra Space Storage pays out 143.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rayonier pays out 34.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Extra Space Storage has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Rayonier is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Extra Space Storage and Rayonier”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Extra Space Storage	$3.45 billion	9.19	$974.00 million	$4.53	33.08
Rayonier	$484.50 million	13.60	$474.38 million	$3.02	7.25

Extra Space Storage has higher revenue and earnings than Rayonier. Rayonier is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Extra Space Storage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.1% of Extra Space Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Rayonier shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Extra Space Storage shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Rayonier shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Extra Space Storage beats Rayonier on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Extra Space Storage

Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 3,714 self-storage stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C. The Company's stores comprise approximately 2.6 million units and approximately 283.0 million square feet of rentable space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands. The Company offers customers a wide selection of conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. It is the largest operator of self-storage properties in the United States.

About Rayonier

Rayonier is a leading timberland real estate investment trust with assets located in some of the most productive softwood timber growing regions in the United States and New Zealand. As of December 31, 2023, Rayonier owned or leased under long-term agreements approximately 2.7 million acres of timberlands located in the U.S. South (1.85 million acres), U.S. Pacific Northwest (418,000 acres) and New Zealand (421,000 acres).