Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Upgraded to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

RYN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Rayonier Stock Performance

RYN traded down $0.11 on Monday, hitting $26.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,856,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,469. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Rayonier has a 12 month low of $24.88 and a 12 month high of $35.29. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.03.

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Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.08. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 28.44%. Analysts forecast that Rayonier will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Rayonier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.19%.

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Rayonier

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Rayonier during the 4th quarter valued at $343,007,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,279,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $137,715,000 after purchasing an additional 104,464 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,372,817 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $88,031,000 after purchasing an additional 20,126 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,107,331 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $81,101,000 after purchasing an additional 170,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Rayonier by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,632,193 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company's stock.

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.