Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Increases Holdings in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 92.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 27,400 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Rayonier during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Rayonier by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Rayonier by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Bayban bought a new stake in Rayonier in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Rayonier by 74.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of Rayonier stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total transaction of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,445,770.10. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:RYN opened at $21.48 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.53. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Rayonier Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.49 and a 1-year high of $27.33.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Rayonier had a net margin of 68.61% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $276.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Rayonier’s quarterly revenue was up 233.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RYN has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Rayonier from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price target on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.80.

About Rayonier

Rayonier, Inc (NYSE: RYN) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in timberland ownership and management. The company’s core business revolves around sustainably growing, harvesting, and marketing timber and timber-related products. Rayonier’s timberland portfolio encompasses approximately 2.7 million acres across the United States and New Zealand, focusing on softwood and hardwood fiber for use in paper, packaging and building materials.

Rayonier operates through two primary segments: Timber and Real Estate Solutions.