8,643 Shares in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Rayonier in the third quarter valued at $1,749,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 209.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after buying an additional 38,783 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Rayonier by 119.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 457,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,718,000 after acquiring an additional 249,173 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at $467,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at about $327,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RYN shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James raised 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rayonier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Rayonier Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE RYN opened at $27.83 on Friday. Rayonier Inc. has a one year low of $24.88 and a one year high of $31.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.19%.

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, December 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Rayonier

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.