Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,632 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 145,251 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Rayonier worth $10,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Rayonier during the third quarter valued at about $1,749,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Rayonier by 209.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 38,783 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Rayonier in the 2nd quarter valued at $732,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Rayonier by 119.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 457,370 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,718,000 after purchasing an additional 249,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Rayonier by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,279,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $137,715,000 after purchasing an additional 104,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company's stock.

Rayonier Price Performance

RYN traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, reaching $26.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,093,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 622,039. Rayonier Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.46 and a 52-week high of $35.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.21. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.21 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 15.84%. 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 posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding 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 plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from Rayonier's previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RYN has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Rayonier from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th.

Rayonier 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.