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

Shares of Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.8333.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Potlatch from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Potlatch from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of Potlatch in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Potlatch in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Potlatch in a research note on Monday, November 10th.

Potlatch Price Performance

Shares of PCH stock opened at $43.19 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.24. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.67 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Potlatch has a twelve month low of $36.82 and a twelve month high of $48.12.

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

Potlatch Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Potlatch’s payout ratio is presently 219.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Potlatch news, CEO Eric J. Cremers sold 24,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.33, for a total value of $948,757.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 296,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,643,371.19. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. Dereu sold 3,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.33, for a total value of $128,923.74. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 73,845 shares in the company, valued at $2,904,323.85. The trade was a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,715,897. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Potlatch during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Potlatch by 611.9% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Potlatch during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Potlatch by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Potlatch by 216.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. 86.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Potlatch

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.