How Creditworthy are the Public Timber REITs? A Rating Agency Update

| no comments in Timber REITs

Last week, Fitch Ratings raised its outlook on Weyerhaeuser (WY) from “negative” to “stable” and affirmed its rating at “BB+”.  Fitch justified the action primarily on WY’s Pulp business and core Timberland operations, though the rating agency recognized that the more…

Tax Treatment of Timber REIT Dividends (in under 150 words)

| no comments in Forest Finance & Economics, Timber REITs

A duck walked into the doctor’s office and asked, “Doc, how do you treat timber REIT dividends?”…. Distributions from real estate investment trusts (REITs) have three elements: Distributions representing firm Operating Income are taxed at investors’ ordinary (marginal) tax rates. more…

Timber REITs: Land Sales Offset Weak Log Markets for PCL and PCH in 2Q 2011

| no comments in Timber REITs, Timberlands

Second quarter 2011 results reported by Plum Creek (PCL) and Potlatch (PCH) the past two days indicated continued weakness in those segments affected by housing markets (timber harvesting and wood products manufacturing).  Both firms somewhat offset lower timber harvesting cash more…