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Rayonier’s (RYN) announced ten percent dividend increase reminded me of the well-traveled quote from investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on stocks and dividends: I believe non dividend stocks aren’t much more than baseball cards. They are worth what you more…
Just over two months into 2012, the public timber REIT sector pulled ahead of the S&P 500. According to the Forisk Timber REIT (FTR) Index, timberland owning REITs returned 9.84% YTD relative to 9.01% for the S&P 500. Weyerhaeuser (WY) more…
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein once said, “the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” On the other hand, actor Wesley Snipes reportedly said, “taxes are only complicated if you pay them.” (Actually, that might have more…
In 2011, timberland-owning REITs, as a sector, outperformed the S&P 500. As measured by the Forisk Timber REIT (FTR) Index, publicly-traded timber REITs returned 5.69% versus 0.00% for the S&P (see tables). The FTR Total Returns Index, which accounts for more…
Years ago, I held shares in Crown Pacific Partners, a timberland-owning firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon. During market declines in the late 1990s, the firm subsidized its shareholder distributions through borrowing and cash generated from non-organic business activities. In other more…
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on the rush of investors buying into publicly-traded real estate investment trusts (“Real-estate investors target neighborhood that is looking up,” Wall Street Journal, 11/15/11). According to Citigroup Global Markets, investors, year-to-date, invested 18% more…
Last week, all four publicly-traded, timberland-owning REITs announced and reviewed their third quarter 2011 results (just in time to catch Game 7 of a heart-thumping World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers). All firms met or exceeded more…
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…
Risk management is back in vogue. S&P’s downgrading of US sovereign debt last Friday to AA+ from AAA sparked sell-offs across world markets. Yesterday (Monday August 8, 2011) scored Wall Street its worst day in over two-and-a-half years. Meanwhile, how more…
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…