Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Shares Sold by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network trimmed its holdings in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 470 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Rayonier by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,279,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $137,715,000 after acquiring an additional 104,464 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Rayonier by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,352,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,890,000 after purchasing an additional 695,810 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rayonier by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,441,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,579,000 after purchasing an additional 7,733 shares during the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. grew its stake in Rayonier by 2.9% in the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,034,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,278,000 after purchasing an additional 28,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Rayonier by 56.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 752,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,900,000 after buying an additional 272,349 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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, Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.67.

Rayonier Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Rayonier stock opened at $26.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81 and a beta of 1.04. Rayonier Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.88 and a twelve month high of $35.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.74.

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

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

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from Rayonier’s previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is 107.55%.

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.