Renaissance Technologies LLC Makes New $4.28 Million Investment in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 164,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,281,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Rayonier by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,107,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,101,000 after buying an additional 170,087 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 370,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 31,916 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Rayonier by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 25,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Rayonier by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 713,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,610,000 after purchasing an additional 11,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Rayonier during the 4th quarter valued at about $320,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RYN opened at $24.67 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.36 and its 200 day moving average is $27.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.97. Rayonier Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.80 and a 1-year high of $31.29. 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 (NYSE:RYN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on RYN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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 upgraded Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research report 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 MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

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.