Head to Head Survey: Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND) & Rayonier (NYSE:RYN)

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Rayonier and Gladstone Land’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%
Gladstone Land	-6.68%	-0.87%	-0.48%

Volatility & Risk

Rayonier has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gladstone Land has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.1% of Rayonier shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.6% of Gladstone Land shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Rayonier shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of Gladstone Land shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Rayonier and Gladstone Land, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rayonier	1	4	0	1	2.17
Gladstone Land	1	2	0	1	2.25

Rayonier currently has a consensus price target of $24.60, indicating a potential upside of 11.88%. Gladstone Land has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.95%. Given Gladstone Land’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gladstone Land is more favorable than Rayonier.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Rayonier and Gladstone Land”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rayonier	$484.50 million	13.65	$474.38 million	$3.02	7.28
Gladstone Land	$88.34 million	4.00	$13.53 million	($0.61)	-13.44

Rayonier has higher revenue and earnings than Gladstone Land. Gladstone Land is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rayonier, 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 4.7%. Gladstone Land pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Rayonier pays out 34.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gladstone Land pays out -91.8% 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. Gladstone Land has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Gladstone Land is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Rayonier beats Gladstone Land on 9 of the 16 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 Gladstone Land

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion. Gladstone Land’s farms are predominantly located in regions where its tenants are able to grow fresh produce annual row crops, such as berries and vegetables, which are generally planted and harvested annually. The Company also owns farms growing permanent crops, such as almonds, apples, cherries, figs, lemons, olives, pistachios, and other orchards, as well as blueberry groves and vineyards, which are generally planted every 20-plus years and harvested annually. Approximately 40% of the Company’s fresh produce acreage is either organic or in transition to become organic, and over 10% of its permanent crop acreage falls into this category. The Company may also acquire property related to farming, such as cooling facilities, processing buildings, packaging facilities, and distribution centers. Gladstone Land pays monthly distributions to its stockholders and has paid 129 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock since its initial public offering in January 2013. The Company has increased its common distributions 32 times over the prior 35 quarters, and the current per-share distribution on its common stock is $0.0464 per month, or $0.5568 per year.