Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on RYN. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Rayonier from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet raised Rayonier from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Rayonier from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rayonier currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Rayonier Price Performance

NYSE:RYN traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.36. The company had a trading volume of 447,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,490. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.47. Rayonier has a one year low of $24.84 and a one year high of $35.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21 and a beta of 1.09.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.01. Rayonier had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 3.21%. The business had revenue of $168.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Rayonier will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is 101.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rayonier

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Rayonier in the first quarter worth about $62,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rayonier during the 1st quarter worth approximately $961,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 138.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 161,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,364,000 after buying an additional 93,768 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Rayonier by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 171,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,694,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Rayonier by 525.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Company Profile

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.