Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.80.

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

Rayonier Price Performance

Rayonier stock opened at $21.44 on Monday. Rayonier has a one year low of $19.49 and a one year high of $27.33. 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 company has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.55.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $276.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.92 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 68.61%.Rayonier’s quarterly revenue was up 233.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Rayonier will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rayonier news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total transaction of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,445,770.10. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rayonier

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rayonier by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,174,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $458,434,000 after buying an additional 444,503 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,806,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in shares of Rayonier by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 13,548,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $293,332,000 after acquiring an additional 717,021 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Rayonier by 232.2% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,647,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $122,261,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,463,118 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.