First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Position in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 32.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 78,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 37,754 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $2,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Rayonier during the third quarter worth about $351,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Rayonier by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 195,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,028 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Rayonier by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth $467,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE RYN opened at $23.21 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.07. Rayonier Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.80 and a 1 year high of $31.29.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.10). Rayonier had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 3.86%. The business had revenue of $82.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. Rayonier’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Rayonier from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Rayonier from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. 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. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Rayonier from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rayonier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

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.