Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 47,935 Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 47,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RYN. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 1.2% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 65,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,094,000 after buying an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier during the third quarter worth about $338,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier during the third quarter worth about $311,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier during the third quarter worth about $373,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Price Performance

RYN stock opened at $27.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.00. Rayonier Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.88 and a twelve month high of $32.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.00. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.08. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 28.44%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

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

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RYN. StockNews.com raised Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James upgraded Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Rayonier Company 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.