Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Potlatch Corporation by 3.1% in Q1, now holding approximately 2.33 million shares worth $105.16 million, representing 0.8% of its portfolio.
• Recent analyst reports saw Potlatch downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, while Citigroup maintained a "buy" rating with a target price reduced to $47.00.
• Potlatch Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, yielding 4.3%, although the company had a significant dividend payout ratio of 339.62% and saw a 14.2% revenue decline year-over-year.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,330,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 73,345 shares during the quarter. Potlatch accounts for 0.8% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 2.96% of Potlatch worth $105,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PCH. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Potlatch by 41.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 864 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its position in Potlatch by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 41,030 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Potlatch by 168.1% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 665 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Potlatch by 224.2% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 697 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Potlatch by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 20,266 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. 86.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Potlatch Price Performance

NASDAQ:PCH traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.06. The stock had a trading volume of 548,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,718. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.13. Potlatch Corporation has a 52 week low of $36.82 and a 52 week high of $48.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 81.25 and a beta of 1.12.

Potlatch (NASDAQ:PCH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Potlatch had a return on equity of 2.10% and a net margin of 3.94%. The business had revenue of $274.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The company's revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Potlatch Corporation will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $47.00 price target (down previously from $49.00) on shares of Potlatch in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Potlatch from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Potlatch from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Potlatch 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.