Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 target price on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN opened at $21.31 on Friday. Rayonier has a 12 month low of $19.49 and a 12 month high of $27.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.97.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. Rayonier had a return on equity of 4.09% and a net margin of 97.94%.The firm had revenue of $117.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Rayonier will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of Rayonier stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total transaction of $3,627,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 709,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,213,459.52. The trade was a 19.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rayonier

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at $313,806,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rayonier by 232.2% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,647,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,261,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,226 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth $20,813,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Rayonier by 1,088.2% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 790,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,528,000 after purchasing an additional 723,732 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Rayonier by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 13,548,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $293,332,000 after purchasing an additional 717,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

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.