Head to Head Survey: Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG)

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and West Fraser Timber (NYSE:WFG) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.1% of Rayonier shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.2% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Rayonier shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of West Fraser Timber shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Rayonier and West Fraser Timber, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rayonier	0	3	1	0	2.25
West Fraser Timber	0	0	5	0	3.00

Rayonier currently has a consensus price target of $27.75, suggesting a potential upside of 17.74%. West Fraser Timber has a consensus price target of $100.40, suggesting a potential upside of 34.54%. Given West Fraser Timber’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe West Fraser Timber is more favorable than Rayonier.

Profitability

This table compares Rayonier and West Fraser Timber’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rayonier	30.09%	3.29%	1.74%
West Fraser Timber	0.03%	0.99%	0.78%

Dividends

Rayonier pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. West Fraser Timber pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Rayonier pays out 46.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. West Fraser Timber pays out -752.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. West Fraser Timber has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Rayonier and West Fraser Timber”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rayonier	$1.26 billion	2.91	$359.15 million	$2.33	10.12
West Fraser Timber	$6.17 billion	0.93	-$5.00 million	($0.17)	-438.97

Rayonier has higher earnings, but lower revenue than West Fraser Timber. West Fraser Timber is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rayonier, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Rayonier has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Fraser Timber has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rayonier beats West Fraser Timber on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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).

About West Fraser Timber

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. The company also provides northern bleached softwood Kraft pulp and bleached chemical thermo-mechanical pulp used to produce various paper products, including printing and writing papers, paperboard products, tissue and towel products, and a variety of other paper grades. Further, it offers bioproducts, including bioenergy and biomaterial. Its products are used in home construction, repair and remodeling, papers, tissue, and box materials, and industrial applications. The company sells its products to major retail chains, contractor supply yards, and wholesalers, as well as industrial customers for further processing or as components for other products in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.