Bailard Inc. Purchases New Shares in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 165.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Rayonier by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Rayonier by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Rayonier by 135.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Rayonier in the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rayonier Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of RYN opened at $26.98 on Wednesday. Rayonier Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.88 and a fifty-two week high of $33.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.07 and a 200 day moving average of $29.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.08. Rayonier had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 3.86%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. Rayonier’s payout ratio is 46.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Rayonier 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.