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

Shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on RYN. Raymond James Financial raised Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Rayonier from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th.

Rayonier Price Performance

RYN stock opened at $20.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.98 and its 200-day moving average is $22.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.23. Rayonier has a 1 year low of $19.49 and a 1 year high of $28.14.

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

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.10%.

Insider Activity at Rayonier

In related news, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total value of $3,627,648.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 709,583 shares in the company, valued at $15,213,459.52. This represents a 19.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rayonier

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rayonier during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Rayonier by 138.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

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.