Short Interest in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Rises By 21.2%

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 6,462,151 shares, an increase of 21.2% from the February 12th total of 5,331,632 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,570,458 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,570,458 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rayonier news, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total value of $3,627,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 709,583 shares in the company, valued at $15,213,459.52. This represents a 19.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rayonier

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rayonier by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,174,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $458,434,000 after purchasing an additional 444,503 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at $313,806,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rayonier by 5.6% in 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 buying an additional 717,021 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $122,261,000 after buying an additional 3,947,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 15.2% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,842,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,408,000 after buying an additional 639,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Stock Up 0.4%

RYN opened at $20.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.23. Rayonier has a twelve month low of $20.02 and a twelve month high of $28.31.

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

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Rayonier’s payout ratio is presently 35.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on RYN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial raised Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

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.