Potlatch Corporation $PCH Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Potlatch Corporation by 4.5%, selling 513,227 shares and maintaining ownership of approximately 10.89 million shares worth $491 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Potlatch, with Quarry LP increasing its stake by 224.2% during the fourth quarter and Harbor Capital Advisors increasing by 168.1% in the first quarter.
• Potlatch's quarterly earnings revealed a 14.2% decrease in revenue year-over-year, reporting $274.99 million compared to the consensus estimate of $267.66 million.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,892,276 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 513,227 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.83% of Potlatch worth $491,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Potlatch in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in Potlatch in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $320,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Potlatch by 9.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,548 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares in the last quarter. Barings LLC increased its position in shares of Potlatch by 317.6% during the first quarter. Barings LLC now owns 98,366 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,438,000 after acquiring an additional 74,811 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Potlatch by 16.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,536 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price target (down previously from $49.00) on shares of Potlatch in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Potlatch from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Potlatch from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.00.

Potlatch Stock Performance

Shares of PCH stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.24. The stock had a trading volume of 33,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 521,805. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 81.55 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50 day moving average is $40.69 and its 200 day moving average is $41.48. Potlatch Corporation has a twelve month low of $36.82 and a twelve month high of $48.12.

Potlatch (NASDAQ:PCH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Potlatch had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 2.10%. The firm had revenue of $274.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Potlatch's revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Potlatch Corporation will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Potlatch Company Profile

PotlatchDeltic Corporation Nasdaq: PCH is a leading Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that owns nearly 2.2 million acres of timberlands in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. Through its taxable REIT subsidiary, the company also operates six sawmills, an industrial-grade plywood mill, a residential and commercial real estate development business and a rural timberland sales program.