Comparing Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) & Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT)

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Rayonier and Four Corners Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rayonier	1	4	0	1	2.17
Four Corners Property Trust	0	5	5	0	2.50

Rayonier presently has a consensus price target of $24.60, suggesting a potential upside of 12.68%. Four Corners Property Trust has a consensus price target of $27.78, suggesting a potential upside of 8.51%. Given Rayonier’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Rayonier is more favorable than Four Corners Property Trust.

Risk and Volatility

Rayonier has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Rayonier and Four Corners Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rayonier	68.61%	3.61%	2.41%
Four Corners Property Trust	38.70%	7.35%	4.05%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Rayonier and Four Corners Property Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rayonier	$484.50 million	13.55	$474.38 million	$3.02	7.23
Four Corners Property Trust	$294.13 million	9.55	$112.36 million	$1.11	23.06

Rayonier has higher revenue and earnings than Four Corners Property Trust. Rayonier is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Four Corners Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Rayonier pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Rayonier pays out 34.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 132.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Four Corners Property Trust has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Four Corners Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.1% of Rayonier shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Rayonier shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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 Four Corners Property Trust

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. engages in the owning, acquisition, and leasing of properties for use in the restaurant and food-service related industries. It operates through the Real Estate Operations and Restaurant Operations segments. The Real Estate Operations segment consists of rental revenues generated by leasing restaurant properties. The Restaurant Operations segment includes the Kerrow Restaurant operating business. The company was founded on July 2, 2015 and is headquartered in Mill Valley, CA.