Aristides Capital LLC Takes $1.03 Million Position in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 49,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RYN. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Rayonier during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Bayban purchased a new position in Rayonier during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised 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 worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Price Performance

RYN opened at $21.34 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.52. Rayonier Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.49 and a 52-week high of $27.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Rayonier’s payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RYN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Rayonier from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Rayonier from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.60.

Rayonier Profile

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.