Contrasting Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI) and Rayonier (NYSE:RYN)

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Rayonier and Farmland Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rayonier	7.83%	3.49%	2.37%
Farmland Partners	49.85%	5.54%	3.58%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Rayonier and Farmland Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rayonier	0	5	0	1	2.33
Farmland Partners	0	4	0	0	2.00

Rayonier presently has a consensus target price of $24.80, indicating a potential upside of 31.25%. Given Rayonier’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Rayonier is more favorable than Farmland Partners.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Rayonier and Farmland Partners”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rayonier	$484.50 million	11.60	$474.38 million	$0.45	41.99
Farmland Partners	$51.47 million	9.20	$31.55 million	$0.51	21.28

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.1% of Rayonier shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.0% of Farmland Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Rayonier shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Farmland Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Rayonier pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Farmland Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Rayonier pays out 231.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Farmland Partners pays out 70.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

Rayonier has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Farmland Partners has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rayonier beats Farmland Partners on 10 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 Farmland Partners

Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owns and/or manages approximately 171,100 acres in 16 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. In addition, the Company owns land and buildings for four agriculture equipment dealerships in Ohio leased to Ag Pro under the John Deere brand. The Company has approximately 26 crop types and over 100 tenants. The Company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2014.