Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.8333.

PCH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America downgraded Potlatch from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Potlatch from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Potlatch from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Potlatch in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Potlatch from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP William R. Dereu sold 3,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.33, for a total value of $128,923.74. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 73,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,904,323.85. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Darin Robert Ball sold 4,127 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.30, for a total transaction of $162,191.10. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 49,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,822.20. The trade was a 7.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,715,897. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Potlatch during the 2nd quarter worth $292,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Potlatch during the second quarter valued at $2,151,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Potlatch in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,640,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Potlatch in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,024,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Potlatch by 91.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,697,000 after buying an additional 33,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.06% of the company’s stock.

Potlatch Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCH opened at $41.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.27. Potlatch has a 52-week low of $36.82 and a 52-week high of $48.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.89 and a beta of 1.09.

Potlatch (NASDAQ:PCH) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $314.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.13 million. Potlatch had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 5.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Potlatch will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Potlatch Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Potlatch’s payout ratio is presently 219.51%.

Potlatch Company Profile

PotlatchDeltic Corporation, which trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker PCH, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the ownership and sustainable management of timberland. Headquartered in Spokane, Washington, the company holds approximately two million acres of forested land across the United States. Its integrated business model combines timberland stewardship with manufacturing and marketing of wood products to serve residential, agricultural and industrial markets.

In its timberland segment, PotlatchDeltic focuses on responsible forest management practices, including reforestation, habitat conservation and wildfire mitigation.