The St. Joe Company (JOE) has reaped $562 million (including $200 million as a timber note) by selling around 380,000 acres of its non-strategic timberland and rural land in Northwest Florida to AgReserves Inc.’s subsidiaries.
The move is a strategic fit for St. Joe and provides the company with substantial liquidity, which it can deploy for development needs. The company is currently focused on enhancing resort operations, development of the port at Port St. Joe as well as the active adult residential market, which would help it ride on the growth trajectory.
The land that St. Joe disposed comprised the bulk of the company’s timberlands in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty as well as Wakulla counties, and its aggregate carrying value was around $52 million as of Dec 31, 2013.
Around 185,000 acres of land, which is mainly located in Northwest Florida, is under the company’s ownership currently and it intends to carry on its forestry operations on a restricted basis.
Late last month, St. Joe reported its fourth-quarter 2013 results. The company broke even in fourth-quarter 2013 compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of a cent per share. Fourth-quarter results were driven by a rise in revenues, which moved up 50.0% to $33.9 million and also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $25.0 million.
St. Joe currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the real estate industry may also consider stocks like Altisource Residential Corporation (RESI), Brookfield Residential Properties Inc. (BRP) and Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL). While Altisource and Brookfield carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Jones Lang LaSalle has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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