Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $18.49 and last traded at $18.5650, with a volume of 892283 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on RYN shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Rayonier from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Rayonier from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Rayonier from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.80.

Rayonier Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.86. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 7.83%.The firm had revenue of $396.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 272.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 231.11%.

Insider Activity at Rayonier

In other news, EVP Mark Bridwell sold 5,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $107,370.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,658,235.59. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rayonier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RYN. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 141.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,620,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,420,000 after buying an additional 950,473 shares in the last quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier in the fourth quarter worth about $1,936,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier in the first quarter worth about $6,980,000. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in Rayonier by 3,590.1% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 128,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 124,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Rayonier by 42.3% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,925,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $101,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463,118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

About Rayonier

Rayonier Inc (NYSE:RYN) is a real estate investment trust that owns, leases and manages timberlands. The company generates revenue primarily from the sale of timber and logs, as well as from real estate transactions and leases involving its land holdings.

Rayonier’s timber operations span the U.S. South, the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand. Its products include timber used in construction, packaging, paper and other wood-related applications. The company also pursues opportunities involving rural land, conservation, renewable energy and other alternative uses of its properties.

Founded in 1926, Rayonier has evolved from a forest-products company into a publicly traded timberland owner and manager.