Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.80.

RYN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Rayonier from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Rayonier from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price objective on Rayonier in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Rayonier Stock Down 1.1%

RYN opened at $20.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.88. Rayonier has a 12 month low of $19.49 and a 12 month high of $27.33.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $276.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.92 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 68.61%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 233.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rayonier will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Rayonier’s payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

Insider Transactions at Rayonier

In related news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of Rayonier stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total transaction of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,445,770.10. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rayonier

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Rayonier by 2.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth $313,806,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in Rayonier by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 13,548,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $293,332,000 after buying an additional 717,021 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Rayonier by 232.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,647,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,261,000 after buying an additional 3,947,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Rayonier by 42.3% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,925,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $101,563,000 after buying an additional 1,463,118 shares in the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Company 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.