Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Short Interest Down 34.0% in February

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,331,632 shares, a drop of 34.0% from the January 29th total of 8,075,373 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,638,819 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,638,819 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rayonier

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in Rayonier by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,700,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,713,000 after acquiring an additional 308,200 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Rayonier by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,688,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,807,000 after purchasing an additional 754,076 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Rayonier during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $674,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rayonier by 102.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 156,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,482,000 after purchasing an additional 79,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier during the 2nd quarter worth about $542,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RYN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Rayonier from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Raymond James Financial raised Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

Rayonier Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE RYN traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.49. 4,347,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,009,993. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.26. Rayonier has a twelve month low of $20.75 and a twelve month high of $28.31.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $117.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rayonier will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.74%.

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.