Franklin Resources Inc. Invests $30.94 Million in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,185,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $30,935,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.80% of Rayonier at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Rayonier by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Rayonier by 264.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Rayonier by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Rayonier by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RYN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James upgraded Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Rayonier Price Performance

Shares of RYN opened at $25.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.97. Rayonier Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.88 and a fifty-two week high of $31.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.12.

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

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.