Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.80.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Rayonier from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price objective on Rayonier in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Rayonier from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Activity at Rayonier

In other news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of Rayonier stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total value of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 115,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,445,770.10. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rayonier

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Rayonier by 49.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Rayonier by 74.0% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Rayonier stock opened at $20.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.60. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.88. Rayonier has a fifty-two week low of $19.49 and a fifty-two week high of $27.33.

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

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Rayonier’s payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

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.