Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,988 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RYN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Rayonier by 948.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,146 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 11,892 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Rayonier by 87.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 161,130 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,185,000 after buying an additional 75,258 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Rayonier by 119.7% during the third 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 valued at $14,718,000 after buying an additional 249,173 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Rayonier during the third quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Rayonier by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 102,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after buying an additional 47,307 shares in the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rayonier Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:RYN opened at $27.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Rayonier Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.88 and a twelve month high of $31.62. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.82.

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

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 2nd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RYN. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rayonier has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

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.