Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,680,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 101,605 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $96,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RYN. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth about $343,007,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in Rayonier by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 112,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 5,873 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Rayonier during the 4th quarter worth approximately $731,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RYN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rayonier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Rayonier Price Performance

RYN stock opened at $27.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.80. Rayonier Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.88 and a 12-month high of $31.62.

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

Rayonier announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, December 2nd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.19%.

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.