Oak Thistle LLC Acquires New Holdings in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 17,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Rayonier by 165.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 539.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RYN opened at $26.09 on Friday. Rayonier Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.88 and a 12 month high of $35.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.88.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.21 million. Rayonier had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 2.95%. Rayonier’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from Rayonier’s previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier’s payout ratio is currently 107.55%.

Rayonier announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 2nd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on RYN. Citigroup reduced their target price on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.67.

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.